Reigning US Women’s Open champion Ryu So-yeon of South Korea was ousted 2-up by the US’ Vicky Hurst on Saturday in a quarter-final at the LPGA Sybase Match Play Championship.
World No. 13 Ryu, an LPGA rookie seeking her first triumph since her major victory last year, lost after a third round that saw World No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan and World No. 2 Choi Na-yeon of South Korea eliminated.
“We both played pretty solid the whole day,” Hurst said. “She kind of let it go at the end, but it was pretty close.”
Photo: AFP
Yesterday’s semi-finals for the US$1.5 million event send 37th-ranked Hurst against Taiwan’s Candie Kung and the US’ Morgan Pressel facing Spain’s Azahara Munoz. Winners played yesterday afternoon for the title at Hamilton Farm Golf Club.
Kung, the lowest-ranked of the last four at 49th, ousted Tseng 3 and 2 to reach the last eight, then outlasted Paraguay’s 41st-ranked Julieta Granada 2 and 1 to stay in contention for her first title since 2008.
Pressel, seeking her first LPGA triumph in more than four years, took out Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist 5 and 4 to book a semi-final date with Munoz, who eliminated the US’ Stacy Lewis by the same score.
“This afternoon I had a little bit of a break and didn’t need to make quite as many birdies, but tomorrow I’m going to need to make the birdies again, because I’m sure ‘Atha’ is going to come out strong,” she said.
Pressel, who turns 24 on Wednesday, has not won an LPGA title since the 2008 Kapalua Classic. She won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco crown to become the youngest major winner in LPGA history.
“I definitely want to win again and I’ll have a chance tomorrow,” Pressel said. “No matter what happens, this is the best I’ve played in a long time. I’m going to give it everything I have tomorrow.”
Ryu seized the lead three times early against Hurst, only to have the American square the match each time. Hurst took her first lead with a par at the par-4 15th, then birdied the par-3 16th for a 2-up lead.
Ryu birdied the 17th to create the only quarter-final that reached the 18th hole, but Hurst parred the last to win the hole and secure the triumph.
Granada and Kung were all-square through 14 holes, Kung having taken the lead three times and Granada having answered within two holes each time.
However, Kung won the 15th with a birdie and the 16th with a par, before they each parred the 17th to hand Kung the triumph.
World No. 15 Pressel, who eliminated Choi in 19 holes in round three, was not pushed so greatly in her quarter-final.
Pressel won the par-3 third when Nordqvist bogeyed, took the par-5 fifth with a birdie and captured the par-4 seventh on another bogey from the Swede.
After they exchanged the first two holes on the back nine, Pressel birdied the par-3 12th and par-4 13th, then matched Nordqvist’s par at 14 to end the match.
Munoz, ranked 19th, ousted the highest-seeded player in the last eight by beating sixth-ranked Lewis, who won at Mobile last month.
The Spaniard eagled the par-5 second hole and won the par-3 third and par-4 seventh and ninth, all after bogeys by Lewis. Munoz birdied the 11th to go 5-up before Lewis won her only hole with a birdie at 12.
Munoz, 24, won the 13th with a par and halved the 14th with a par to advance to a match against her friend Pressel.
“We both want to win bad, so I think it’s going to be fun,” Munoz said.
“I wish I wasn’t playing her, to be honest,” she added.
Tseng’s ouster was the top upset early, but no shock to her after a tough week.
“I wasn’t surprised. I lost because I played bad this week,” Tseng said. “But it’s disappointing.”
Kung went 3-up after seven holes, Tseng won back-to-back holes before Kung began the back nine with a birdie to win the 10th.
Tseng won the 13th with a par to pull within 1-down, but Kung birdied 15 and 16 to close out the match.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Lewis Hamilton on Thursday said there was a “racial element” to International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Mohammed ben Sulayem’s recent comments regarding drivers swearing during Formula 1 races. In an interview with motorsport.com, Ben Sulayem said: “We have to differentiate between our sport — motorsport — and rap music” when referring to drivers having a responsibility to stop swearing on the radio. “We’re not rappers, you know,” Ben Sulayem said. Responding to those remarks ahead of tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix, seven-time champion Hamilton said: “With what he said, I don’t like how he has expressed it. Saying ‘rappers’ is very stereotypical.” “If you
RSS