Matthew, Stanford leads LPGA event in Canada

Matthew, Stanford leads LPGA event in Canada

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The Sports Xchange July 11, 2013 8:30 PMThe SportsXchange



Catriona Matthew and Angela Stanford shared the lead at 8-under-par 63 after the first round of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic on Thursday at Grey Silo Golf Course in Waterloo, Ontario.

Inbee Park, the top-ranked women's player in the world, was two strokes back along with Irene Cho, Belen Mozo, Hee Young Park and Meena Lee.

Matthew had nine birdies and one bogey in the opening round. She birdied five of her last six holes, making a 25-foot putt to close out one of the best scores of her professional career.

"I hit it close all day, which gives you a lot of chances, and then obviously I putted well," Matthew said. "I gave myself a lot of chances but took advantage of them."

Stanford finished a bogey-free round with three consecutive birdies and said the softer conditions suited her game.

"Today, I hit it really good," Stanford said. "So it was just one of those days that as a golfer you just love.

"It's better for me. My ball tends to release more than others, so it's nice to have the greens a little bit softer. But I still thought they were firmer than I thought they would be and I think they'll firm up. If we don't get any more rain, the course will be perfect by Sunday."

Park is bidding to become the first player to win four consecutive LPGA Tour events since Lorena Ochoa 2008. The tour record is five in a row by Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05.

"There's a lot of imbalance in this game and to keep this kind of level going for four weeks, five weeks, six in a row is a very tough thing to do," said Park, who has six wins this year. "We really have to be strong mentally, you have to be physically strong."

Ryann O'Toole, Jenny Shin, Amy Yang and Ji Young Oh were tied at 66, three shots off the lead. Defending champion Brittany Lang carded a 69.

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Golf-Flawless Johnson in tie for John Deere lead

Golf-Flawless Johnson in tie for John Deere lead

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July 11, 2013 8:35 PM


* Johnson ends first round level with Villegas

* Opens with a seven-birdie 64 (Updates at end of round)

July 11 (Reuters) - Rejuvenated by improved form with his driver, Zach Johnson made a strong start to his title defence at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois as he surged into a share of the lead in Thursday's opening round.

The 37-year-old American piled up seven birdies in a flawless display for a sizzling seven-under-par 64 at the TPC Deere Run, finishing joint top with Colombia's Camilo Villegas.

Burly Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge was a further stroke back, mixing four birdies with an eagle at the par-five 10th to end the round level with Americans Matt Bettencourt and Daniel Summerhays.

Most eyes, however, will be firmly focused on Johnson who triumphed here last year with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to edge out compatriot Troy Matteson.

Johnson has now posted sub-70 scores in his last 17 competitive rounds on the par-71 layout.

"I am very pleased," Johnson, a nine-times winner on the PGA Tour, told Golf Channel after making four birdies in his last nine holes. "Very few mistakes, one maybe two errant shots. I was very much in control, and very in control on the greens.

"I hit my driver beautifully, putted great and gave myself a lot of good opportunities. That's all you can ask for. Hopefully I can just continue that consistency for the remainder of the week."

Johnson was especially pleased with his driving, a component of his game which gave him trouble early on this season when he missed the cut three times in his first seven PGA Tour events.


"It feels tremendous," he smiled. "It's at the point now with my driver that I must have been way off (before). I feel very comfortable.

"I'm going to be hitting bad drives but I don't feel I have to grind as much off the tee box. The consistency of left-to-right and right-to-left is always nice on these tee shots.

"But I still have a lot of work to do. I am never going to be content. The leaderboard here is packed and it will be come Sunday."

GRANDSTAND VIEW

One player who had a grandstand view of Johnson on Thursday was three-times former champion Steve Stricker, who was paired with his fellow American in a high-profile grouping which also included Davis Love III.

"It was a lot of fun, an enjoyable round with two friends and watching Zach play, Zach played great," said Stricker, who charged into contention at one of his favourite events with an opening 67.

"He hit in there (close) a lot of times and when he sets the pace like that, you don't want to fall too far behind. You know he's played well here in years past and you've got to stay up to him because I think he's going to be tough to beat."

Stricker made an explosive start to his round, holing out with a sand wedge to eagle his opening hole, the par-five 10th. He got to five under for the round after 11 holes before recording two bogeys over his closing stretch.

"I kept it going for a little while, then ran into a couple of bad holes at four and five on the way in," said the 46-year-old American, who was champion at the TPC Deere Run for three successive years from 2009.

"But a good start overall. I wish I could have taken a little bit more advantage of that start but I am pretty pleased with the way I finished off the round."

South African world number 10 Louis Oosthuizen, the highest-ranked player in this week's field, made a roller-coaster start, mixing five birdies with a bogey, a double and a triple for a one-over 72. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue/Greg Stutchbury)

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Faldo says he couldn't have coped with Watson near miss

Faldo says he couldn't have coped with Watson near miss

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Tony Jimenez July 15, 2013 1:31 PM

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Former champion Nick Faldo of England holds up an autographed sweater from Bayern Munich that was presented …


By Tony Jimenez

GULLANE, Scotland (Reuters) - Nick Faldo is a part-time golfer these days but he showed on Monday the fire still burns as strong as it did in his heyday by saying it would haunt him to mess up a chance to win the 142nd British Open.

The six-times major champion, back in competitive action this week for the first time since the 2010 Open at St Andrews, has been drawn to play alongside fellow 'golden oldies' Tom Watson and Fred Couples in the opening two rounds.

Watson almost achieved a golfing miracle at Turnberry in 2009. A par at the 72nd hole would have given him a major victory at the age of 59 but a bogey meant he had to go through a playoff with American compatriot Stewart Cinkthat the veteran eventually lost.

"That could have been the greatest sporting achievement of all time," Faldo told reporters at Muirfield. "I would be scarred from that if I had a putt to win the Open, even at 59.

"Tom is a very strong man. He probably wouldn't let on but that would scar me so I'm going to avoid having a putt to win.

"I'm either going to win by six or be stuck in the hay somewhere," he laughed, referring to the penal rough at the Scottish links course.

Realistically, Faldo's target this week will be to simply make the cut.

The Briton, winner of the Open at Muirfield in 1987 and 1992 and at St Andrews in 1990, is now a full-time television commentator in the United States and has only played 35 rounds of golf in the last two years.

"When you come here and see the test they have prepared...you start getting ideas of survival, of how close to the cut you could get," said Faldo.

"If I could be relatively competitive that would be impressive for a guy who hasn't hit a competitive shot for three years.

"If I'm feeling intense on Thursday I'll go and talk to Tom. If I want to feel relaxed I'll go and talk to Freddie. But it would be quite an achievement if I could hover close to making the cut."

BUBBLY MOOD


Faldo, who turns 56 on Thursday, was in bubbly mood and seemed happy to be back in the cut and thrust of tour golf.

"About two months ago I was in my gym at home and I thought, 'You're just strong enough to have a go'," he said. "It might be the last chance I get to walk with fellow Open champions so I said I'm going to go for it.

"I've bumped into my old physio and he started poking about on my shoulder. I've bumped into Justin Rose's sports psychologist and I've gleaned a few gems there.

"These kids, they've got it all now, and I'm really enjoying that. We were still searching back in my time."

Faldo looks as trim and fit as he did during his glory years and he has even worked on a course strategy with his former caddie Fanny Sunesson.

"You have to know where you're going to land it on this course, where the next bounce is and where the run is," he explained.

"Fanny stayed with me last night and that's what we worked out so well in 1992, where to land the ball 20 yards short of the green, which way it would kick and obviously where it would stop. That's part of the calculations."

The major championship calculations have gone awry recently for world number one Tiger Woods, who is this week looking to end a five-year wait to win one of golf's big four prizes, while second-ranked Rory McIlroy has struggled for form all season.

"We know what's been happening to Rory, he's still testing new clubs and has had a lot going on," said Faldo. "Tiger is in a different mode where he's winning regular tournaments but he gets to the majors and something happens.

"The self belief you have to have, maybe there's a little dent in there. He hits the wrong shot at the wrong time where before Tiger would hit the right shot at the right time."

Faldo could not resist the temptation to have a gentle dig at the modern generation of players.

"We had Seve (Ballesteros), Greg (Norman), Nick Price, Freddie Couples was there, (Jose Maria) Olazabal and (Bernhard) Langer, we were a pretty good era," said the Englishman.

"If you brought us to now we'd beat this lot easy and we'd look better doing it," laughed Faldo.

(Editing by Toby Davis)

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Golf-Back injury could force Swede Hanson out of British Open

Golf-Back injury could force Swede Hanson out of British Open

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July 15, 2013 2:14 PM



By Tony Jimenez

GULLANE, Scotland, July 15 (Reuters) - European Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson may have to pull out of this week's British Open at Muirfield because of a recurring back problem.

"I am a 50-50 chance of teeing up on Thursday," the 35-year-old Swede told reporters. "I thought the disc problem was getting better but then it starts to feel a lot worse."

The injury was so bad that Hanson was forced to pull out during the final round of the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia at the start of this month.

"With seven holes to go we had a rain delay and then after the delay I couldn't get up and move so I had to withdraw," he explained on Monday.

"The big test for me will be tomorrow because if I can play nine holes pain-free then that will be the key to my playing or not."

Hanson, who the BMW Masters in Shanghai in October and the Dutch Open in September, is due to play alongside Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita and American Bill Haas in the opening two rounds at Muirfield.

Dutchman Joost Luiten will be drafted in if the Swede is forced out. (Editing by Toby Davis)

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Back injury could force Swede Hanson out of British Open

Back injury could force Swede Hanson out of British Open

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Tony Jimenez July 15, 2013 2:21 PM

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Sweden's Peter Hanson watches his ball on the first tee in the final round of the SAS Scandinavian Masters …



By Tony Jimenez

GULLANE, Scotland (Reuters) - European Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson may have to pull out of this week's British Open at Muirfield because of a recurring back problem.

"I am a 50-50 chance of teeing up on Thursday," the 35-year-old Swede told reporters. "I thought the disc problem was getting better but then it starts to feel a lot worse."

The injury was so bad that Hanson was forced to pull out during the final round of the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia at the start of this month.

"With seven holes to go we had a rain delay and then after the delay I couldn't get up and move so I had to withdraw," he explained on Monday.

"The big test for me will be tomorrow because if I can play nine holes pain-free then that will be the key to my playing or not."

Hanson, who the BMW Masters in Shanghai in October and the Dutch Open in September, is due to play alongside Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita and American Bill Haas in the opening two rounds at Muirfield.

Dutchman Joost Luiten will be drafted in if the Swede is forced out.

(Editing by Toby Davis)

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