Angela Stanford birdied her last three holes to join Catriona Matthew atop the leaderboard on eight-under par 63 on Thursday after the first round of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.
Scotland’s Matthew had nine birdies and one bogey in her round at the Grey Silo Golf Course, while Stanford played without a bogey on a layout that was softened by heavy rain earlier in the week.
World No. 1 Inbee Park, seeking her fourth victory in as many LPGA starts, led a chasing group of five players on six-under, that included fellow South Koreans Park Hee-young and Meena Lee, Spain’s Belen Mozo and American Irene Cho.
Photo: AFP
Matthew teed off at the par-four 11th. After a bogey at the 12th she gradually gained steam, with five of her birdies coming in her last six holes.
“I hit it close all day, which gives you a lot of chances, and then obviously I putted well,” Matthew said.
She hit all 14 fairways in regulation, which gave her a chance to attack the pins.
Photo: AFP
“The ball was just stopping pretty much where you hit it in, so you could get it quite close if you were on the fairways,” Matthew said.
Stanford also opened her round at the 11th, later in the afternoon.
Three off the pace with three to play, she birdied eight, nine and 10 to tie the lead.
“I kind of thought about it on the eight tee box, that I had three holes left and I knew one of them is a par-three and the other two par-fours — I might have a wedge in,” she said. “I really just tried to hit quality shots into the greens and had the opportunities I wanted and made them.”
Park, coming off the whirlwind of publicity sparked by her historic US Women’s Open triumph earlier this month, was pleased with her effort.
“It was an excellent round,” she said. “I had a really good start this morning, five-under through seven holes. I missed a couple opportunities on the back nine, but I’m pleased with the way I played today. I hit the ball great, I putted great. The greens look like they’re getting a little bit faster ... looking forward to playing the next few days with a little bit more speed on the greens.”
Park, who won the Kraft Nabisco in April and the LPGA Championship last month, joined US sporting legend Babe Zaharias as the only women to win the first three majors in a season with her US Open victory.
She will have a chance to become the first man or woman to win four major golf championships in a calendar year at the Women’s British Open at St Andrews from Aug. 1 to 4.
A victory this week would make her the first player to win four straight LPGA starts since Lorena Ochoa in 2008. She said putting together that kind of streak seemed impossible for her back when she was watching golfers like Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam win week-in and week-out.
“I thought they were so good, that I would never be in that kind of position, never be able to win like four, five tournaments in a row,” Park said. “I thought that was toughest thing to do and I’m getting really close to that. I’m not as good as them yet, but I’m still learning now, just starting.”
While Taiwan’s Candie Kung was on three-under par after a round of 68, her compatriot and former world No. 1 Yani Tseng struggled to a one-over par 72.
Additional reporting by staff writer
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
Ryan Yarbrough picked up a dazzling World Series ring from his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Then he went out and beat them. The New York Yankees starter on Sunday pitched one-run ball over six innings, struck out a season-high five and blanked the Dodgers’ top four hitters in a 7-3 win. “I feel like I’m in a really good place right now and really trying to continue that,” Yarbrough said. “I’m having a lot of fun.” The 33-year-old left-hander made 44 relief appearances between the Dodgers and Blue Jays last season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment on July
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS