Friday, March 4, 2011

LPGA off to a hot start

The top women's golf tour couldn't be happier with the way the season started. World number 1, Yani Tseng, won the season-opener, Honda HSBC Thailand; while veteran and HOF, Karrie Webb, grabbed the HSBC Women's Champions.


Yani Tseng not only took home the first trophy, she did it the same way as in the last 3 events she's won in 2011, coming from behind. The Taiwanese showed that closing strong is one of her specialties; she left Michelle Wie on the way with a 3 stroke advantage. Tseng's victory strengthened her status as the best golfer in the world and stretched her winning streak to five tournaments.

One week later, Australian Karrie Webb made her experience prevail and pushed Japanese Chie Arimura to 2nd place, even when she had lead for 3 rounds. Webb shot a 69 final round, 13 under overall. With this victory, Webb has 37 LPGA titles and 51 as a pro.

Although the LPGA has been dominated by youngsters in recent years, veterans are still in the fight. Regarding nationality, South Korea keeps dominating, but they're not the only players shinning, here is the top 10 of both tourneys with players' nationality and age:

Honda LPGA Thailand
1. Yani Tseng - Taiwan, 22.
2.  Michelle Wie - United States, 21.
3. Karrie Webb - Australia, 36, and In-Kyung Kim - South Korea, 22.
5. Paula Creamer - United States, 24.
6. Juli Inkster - United States, 50.
7. Amy Yang - South Korea, 21.
8. Maria Hjorth - Sweden, 37; Ariya Jutanugarn - Thailand, 15 (amateur); Catriona Matthew - Scotland, 41; Suzann Pettersen - Norway, 29, and M.J. Hur - South Korea, 21.

HSBC Women's Champions
1. Karrie Webb - Australia, 36.
2. Chie Arimura - Japan, 23.
3. Yani Tseng - Taiwan, 22.
4. Sun Young Yoo - South Korea, 24.
5. Morgan Pressel - United States, 22.
6. Na Yeon Choi - South Korea, 23.
7. In-Kyung Kim - South Korea, 22.
8. Catriona Matthew - Scotland, 41.
9. Stacy Lewis - United States, 26, and Cristie Kerr - United States, 33.


With start studded leaderboards, the LPGA was going through great momentum, but 18 days between the HSBC Women's Champions and the Founders Cup will certainly make media and fans to draw attention elsewhere, while players in a hot streak, like Webb and Tseng, might comeback not as hot.
The note: Sun Young Yoo, Morgan Pressel and Na Yeon Choi grabbed a spot at the season-ending Titleholders, after their results in the HSBC Women's Champions.
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