Ten of top 13 in Ricoh Women's British Open from the Orient

Women's pro golf needs a Catriona

victory to halt the Asian Tsunami

FROM THE TELEGRAPH.CO.UK. SPORT WEBSITE

By MARK REASON

North Berwick's Catriona Matthew, after a third-round 71 at Royal Lytham tooday, will take a three-shot lead over Christina Kim into the final round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open as she attempts to become the first ever Scottish winner of a women’s major.
A Matthew victory barely two months after giving birth to her second child might just be a more astonishing achievement than Chris Hoy’s three gold medals at the last Olympics.
Hoy got a knighthood for his troubles, but he was a driven, obsessive man with a massive support team behind him. He has always said it would not have been possible without the backing of Britain’s expert cycling programme.

Matthew has her husband toting her golf bag and her parents looking after the two toddlers when she is on the golf course. After that she is pretty much on her own.
Mums the world over who struggling to cope with nappies and tantrums can take heart from Matthew’s calm ambition. She said after her round of 71 today:

“I’d like to go out there and win and encourage more girls to go out there and play in Scotland and Great Britain.”

And if Matthew does win, let’s hope she gets one of those honours that Labour likes to deal out like confetti in times of national sporting frenzy.
Heaven knows the women’s game in these parts needs a boost because it is in danger of being inundated by an Asian golfing Tsunami.

Matthew is almost the lone Westerner left on the walls as the women from the Orient line up for the final attack like warriors in some film by Kurosawa. Ten of the top 13 players after the third round are from Asia or have Korean dads.
In recent years they have taken over the LPGA Tour. Asians have won five of the last seven tournaments on the LPGA and four of the previous seven majors. How many of you out there can name the current holders of the women’s majors. Indeed how many can even name the four majors.
None of this would matter a jot, of course, if the game was amateur. But it is not and the thing that distinguishes professional golf from the amateur game is the need to entertain people. If no one in the West is identifying with a lot of these players, then the women’s game is heading for a massive commercial crash in America and Europe.
The game has already taken a bash this year, partly due to the recession. So with typical petulance the women players sacked their commissioner. The stand-in Marty Evans sounds impressive, looks impressive and has an impressive CV. In fact she is impressive. But how the hell does she solve a problem like the Koreans unless she places limits on overseas players?
Evans says: “You have to acknowledge they are pretty amazing young women. We have an opportunity to help them engage more with the fans and develop more fully their distinctive personalities. Their culture is not to distinguish themselves. We hope we can help them engage and connect.”

Sorry, Marty, but it’s a pipe dream. You know it, the players know it and, most importantly, the TV companies know it. How many British sports fans know that Jiyai Shin won the Open last year?

She is a heck of a girl. She has learned a fair bit of English in the past 12 months, she has a very good chance of defending her title on Sunday and she was beaming as she tossed golf balls to the fans after her round of 68.
But can you sell her to a Western audience? Jiyai, who has cut a charity record back home in Korea, promised to sing if she wins. It won’t be enough. Evans describes Ai Miyazato, who is tied with Shin four shots behind Matthew, as a “rock star” back home in Japan. She is, but she’s not going to sell many records in Nashville.
Since the retirement of Annika Sorenstam the women’s game has desperately lacked a figure head. Lorena Ochoa of Mexico is one of the most charming sportswoman on the planet but she is struggling to touch the stars.

Paula Creamer, six shots behind and recognised by Matthew as a threat, has yet to win a major.
There is only one woman out there who moves the ratings dial and that is Michelle Wie. Like it or not - and many of the players don’t like it - TV audiences peak when Wie is in contention. The women’s game needs Wie to lead it out of the slump.
They could make a good start by picking her for the Solheim Cup team on Sunday night, a selection that Wie’s form this year merits. If Matthew wins and Wie is announced on the American team on Monday evening, then Western markets may take a bit more interest. But at the moment they are suffering from a severe case of Asian flu.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72)

212 Catriona Matthew (Sco) 74 67 71
215 Christina Kim 73 71 71
216 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 75 71 70, Ji-Yai Shin (Kor) 77 71 68
217 Mika Miyazato (Jpn) 76 72 69, Song-Hee Kim (Kor) 70 73 74
218 Shinobu Moromizato (Jpn) 74 73 71, Paula Creamer 74 74 70, Jane Park 74 72 72, Kyeong Bae (Kor) 73 71 74
219 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 74 67 78, Hee-Won Han (Kor) 77 73 69, Hee Young Park (Kor) 71 75 73
220 Se Ri Pak (Kor) 76 71 73, Karrie Webb (Aus) 77 71 72, Angela Stanford 70 76 74, Kristy McPherson 74 74 72
221 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 76 69 76, Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 80 71 70, In Kyung Kim (Kor) 81 70 70, Yuko Mitsuka (Jpn) 71 71 79, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 72 76 73
222 Ya-Ni Tseng (Tai) 74 70 78, Cristie Kerr 76 71 75, Samantha Head (Eng) 74 76 72, Martina Eberl (Ger) 75 75 72, Sarah Lee 75 77 70, Brittany Lang 81 70 71, Katie Futcher 75 77 70
223 Michelle Wie 73 76 74, Yuri Fudoh (Jpn) 80 73 70, Becky Morgan (Wal) 80 71 72, Michele Redman 75 75 73, Mi Jung Hur (Kor) 76 73 74
224 Meena Lee (Kor) 74 74 76, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 75 77 72, In-Bee Park (Kor) 76 72 76, Sandra Gal (Ger) 69 80 75, Jeong Jang (Kor) 79 73 72
225 Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 79 71 75, Morgan Pressel 77 72 76, Allison Hanna-Williams 76 76 73
226 Vicky Hurst 74 75 77, Young Kim (Kor) 78 71 77, Eunjung Yi (Kor) 78 75 73, Christel Boeljon (Ned) 79 73 74
227 Irene Cho 77 73 77, Sun Young Yoo (Kor) 79 73 75, Il Mi Chung (Kor) 76 76 75, Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 74 76 77, Jin young Pak (Kor) 80 73 74, Lee-Anne Pace 75 77 75, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 74 71 82
228 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 78 75 75, Teresa Lu (Tai) 75 76 77, Anna-Lise Caudal (Fra) 75 78 75, Laura Diaz 76 76 76, Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 75 77 76, Karin Sjodin (Swe) 75 74 79, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 74 79 75, Laura Davies (Eng) 79 74 75
229 Stacy Prammanasudh 75 75 79, Brittany Lincicome 77 73 79, Louise Stahle (Swe) 77 76 76, Katherine Hull (Aus) 75 77 77, Shanshan Feng (Chi) 80 72 77, Carmen Alonso (Spa) 75 77 77
230 Vikki Laing 73 80 77
231 Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 76 74 81, Reilley Rankin 77 76 78
235 Kris Tamulis 78 75 82