IT'S A CHINESE TAKEWAY OF ALL TOP PRIZES IN WORLD CH/SHIPS
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
By BETHAN CUTLER
It was a clean sweep for the home nation when Chinese representatives won the individual, team and amateur titles at the inaugural World Ladies Championship on Hainan Island in southern China today.
World No.12 Shanshan Feng earned a one-stroke victory in the individual stroke play event for professionals being held over 54 holes on the Vintage Course at Mission Hills Haikou, making history as the first player from mainland China to win on the Ladies European Tour.
Feng finished with a 10-under-par total of 206 after rounds of 66, 69 and 71, ending a stroke ahead of Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, with Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg a shot further behind in third.
Feng’s partner in the team event, Liying Ye, ended in a share of fourth place on seven under par alongside Italian Diana Luna, who led the tournament outright after 13 holes.
However, the former Solheim Cup player dropped a shot at the 16th to fall into a tie for the lead with Feng. She then triple bogeyed the 18th after hitting her second shot into a water hazard over the back of the green.
Feng and Ye’s superior scores also saw them collect the team title in the concurrent event for 20 pairs also being played over The Vintage Course. The duo combined for a winning total of 415, 17 under par, with a two-stroke victory over Thai pair Nontaya Srisawang and Phatlum, with Sweden’s Lindberg and Linda Wessberg three strokes further behind in third.
Feng said: “I wasn’t really shooting a low score today. I think at one time I was like, three behind, but I wasn’t worried at all because I knew I would have more chances on the back nine and I would catch up and finally I got it.
“I was really focusing on the team score and I saw the Thailand team was really strong. They played really well today and they were trying to catch up and me and my partner, we were talking about it and we said, ‘no, we can’t let them catch us.’”
Feng played with her partner, Ye, in the final group and added: “It was really nice to play with her. She is my partner this week and has always been a nice sister to me. We chat a lot on the course and it really helps.”
Ye, 33, from Fu Jian Province, said: “I was very relaxed because I knew that playing with Feng Shanshan we could win the team event.”
Feng, 22, from Guangzhou, won twice on the LPGA of Japan Tour in 2011, at the Meiji Chocolate Cup and the Miyagi TV Dunlop Ladies Cup, but this was her third career title as an individual and her first on home soil. Feng added:
“It’s really special because I won twice in Japan last year but I hadn’t won in China yet. I always played the Chinese Open but I haven’t won and last year I was second, so I really wanted to win a tournament in China and I did it, so I’m really happy.”
The 16-year-old Chinese national team member, Jing Yan, who was born and raised in Singapore, showed her class by leading the amateur honours. She posted rounds of 72, 73 and 71 for an even par total of 216, ending the tournament two shots clear of the next best placed amateur, World No.1 Lydia Ko (14).
Yan was one of eight competitors vying for the amateur title and will now receive two tournament exemptions. She will be offered a spot in the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Meryem Cup taking place from March 22-25 at Golf de L’Ocean in Agadir, Morocco and also to play in the China Ladies Open on the China LPGA Tour taking place during the second week of December.
Yan, who hopes to represent China in the 2016 Olympic Games, said: “It was quite a challenge, this tournament, especially with the strong field of players, both professional and amateur. Getting a chance to play with Lydia Ko, the world number one amateur, again, his is the second time I’ve played with her, so I felt it was a challenge coming into the tournament both mentally and technically. I tried not to think about the tournament too much but more on my game.
“I’m pretty glad that I did better than the first two days but it was a struggle though because from the beginning I felt like, it’s the last day and expectations are higher, so I really wanted to do well.”
Yan has an unusual golf education. She started playing golf aged four and sat in the television commentary box many times as a youngster whilst her father, Ming, was commentating on tournament golf for ESPN.
Meanwhile, in the highly coveted “Best Dressed” player award, it was Danielle Montgomery from England who took the honours with some 21,384 votes and seeing off stiff completion from local girl Shanshan Feng in second place.
The competition has seen a steady build in interest over the three days with a late surge on the last day taking the total number of votes cast to over 100,000.
After collecting her prize, a pearl necklace and pearl hand chain supplied by HaiYu Pearl Co. Ltd., Montgomery said, “It was exciting. I do like to look my best out on course and it was something extra to the whole competition. It got the girls talking and made sure we put some effort into how we dressed, and generated a bit of interest out on course and online.
"I didn’t play my best today but it’s been a fantastic week here at Mission Hills and it’s nice to come away with something!”
With Chinese winners in all three formats of the unique three-in-one event, the 2012 World Ladies Championship could mark a watershed moment for Chinese women’s golf, with many more bright young prospects set to burst through the ranks in the years to come.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL FINAL TOTALS
Mission Hills Haikou, Hainan, China
The Vintage Course
Par 216 (3x72)
206 Shanshan Feng (CHN) 66 69 71
207 Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 68 69 70 208 Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 69 70 69 209 Liying Ye (CHN) 68 67 74, Diana Luna (ITA) 66 71 72
210 Nontaya Srisawang (THA) 70 71 69
212 Giulia Sergas (ITA) 71 73 68, Linda Wessberg (SWE) 69 72 71, Beth Allen (USA) 67 71 74, Melissa Reid (ENG) 70 74 68
213 Lee-Anne Pace (SAF) 71 70 72, Felicity Johnson (ENG) 71 71 71, Florentyna Parker (ENG) 69 68 76, Caroline Masson (GER) 70 70 73
214 Candie Kung (TPE) 67 77 70
215 Jennifer Rosales (PHL) 70 73 72, Line Vedel (DNK) 71 70 74, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (FRA) 74 69 72, Carin Koch (SWE) 68 75 72, Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 73 70 72
216 Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 67 74 75, Jing Yan (CHN) (amateur) 72 73 71
217 Stacey Keating (AUS) 73 72 72, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 70 71 76, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 70 70 77, Xi Yu Lin (CHN) 68 77 72
218 Carly Booth (SCO) 75 76 67, Rebecca Codd (IRL) 67 79 72, Amy Hung (TPE) 69 72 77, Lydia Ko (NZL) (amateur) 71 71 76, Rebecca Flood (AUS) 71 73 74
219 Sophie Giquel-bettan (FRA) 76 72 71, Karen Lunn (AUS) 70 76 73, Yue Xia Lu (CHN) 70 76 73, Stephanie Na (AUS) 72 74 73, Mei Hao Huang (CHN) 75 72 72
220 Pan Pan Yan (CHN) 71 77 72, Cecilie Lundgreen (NOR) 72 70 78, Margherita Rigon (ITA) 71 75 74, Lucie Andre (FRA) 76 71 73, Nikki Garrett (AUS) 74 74 72, Lin Yan Shang (CHN) 73 71 76
221 Sahra Hassan (WAL) 75 71 75, Liebelei Lawrence (LUX) 72 72 77, Malene Jorgensen (DNK) 77 73 71, Yi Chen Liu (TPE) 70 73 78, Caizhu Guo (CHN) 71 72 78, Bo-Mi Suh (KOR) 76 73 72, Kylie Walker (SCO) 75 70 76, Klara Spilkova (HRV) 79 69 73
222 Tao Li Yang (CHN) 75 72 75, Amelia Lewis (USA) 72 75 75, Yun Jye Wei (TPE) 72 71 79
223 Sophie Walker (ENG) 70 78 75, Frances Bondad (AUS) 75 75 73
224 Connie Chen (ZAF) 73 71 80, Tania Elosegui (ESP) 73 74 77
225 Danielle Montgomery (ENG) 72 76 77, Anja Monke (GER) 72 82 71, Ashleigh Simon (SAF) 72 79 74
226 - Yu Yang Zhang (CHN) 73 77 76, Bree Arthur (AUS) 69 77 80, Marieke Nivard (NLD) 75 73 78
227 Dottie Ardina (PHL) 73 80 74
229 Carmen Alonso (ESP) 76 78 75
230 Jia Yun Li (CHN) 75 78 77, Hannah Jun (USA) 74 79 77
231 Marjet Van Der Graaff (NLD) 80 73 78
234 Julie Tvede (DNK) 76 79 79
238 Jessica Ji (SKOR) 80 80 78
243 Xiao Hong Chen (CHN) 82 81 80
LEADING FINAL TEAM TOTALS
1 China (Shan Shan FENG and Li Ying YE).
2 Thailand
3 Sweden
T4 Italy, England.
6 Chinese Taipei.
7 France
8 Norway
9 Germany.
T10 South Africa, Scotland (Carly Booth and Kylie Walker).
By BETHAN CUTLER
It was a clean sweep for the home nation when Chinese representatives won the individual, team and amateur titles at the inaugural World Ladies Championship on Hainan Island in southern China today.
World No.12 Shanshan Feng earned a one-stroke victory in the individual stroke play event for professionals being held over 54 holes on the Vintage Course at Mission Hills Haikou, making history as the first player from mainland China to win on the Ladies European Tour.
Feng finished with a 10-under-par total of 206 after rounds of 66, 69 and 71, ending a stroke ahead of Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, with Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg a shot further behind in third.
Feng’s partner in the team event, Liying Ye, ended in a share of fourth place on seven under par alongside Italian Diana Luna, who led the tournament outright after 13 holes.
However, the former Solheim Cup player dropped a shot at the 16th to fall into a tie for the lead with Feng. She then triple bogeyed the 18th after hitting her second shot into a water hazard over the back of the green.
Feng and Ye’s superior scores also saw them collect the team title in the concurrent event for 20 pairs also being played over The Vintage Course. The duo combined for a winning total of 415, 17 under par, with a two-stroke victory over Thai pair Nontaya Srisawang and Phatlum, with Sweden’s Lindberg and Linda Wessberg three strokes further behind in third.
Feng said: “I wasn’t really shooting a low score today. I think at one time I was like, three behind, but I wasn’t worried at all because I knew I would have more chances on the back nine and I would catch up and finally I got it.
“I was really focusing on the team score and I saw the Thailand team was really strong. They played really well today and they were trying to catch up and me and my partner, we were talking about it and we said, ‘no, we can’t let them catch us.’”
Feng played with her partner, Ye, in the final group and added: “It was really nice to play with her. She is my partner this week and has always been a nice sister to me. We chat a lot on the course and it really helps.”
Ye, 33, from Fu Jian Province, said: “I was very relaxed because I knew that playing with Feng Shanshan we could win the team event.”
Feng, 22, from Guangzhou, won twice on the LPGA of Japan Tour in 2011, at the Meiji Chocolate Cup and the Miyagi TV Dunlop Ladies Cup, but this was her third career title as an individual and her first on home soil. Feng added:
“It’s really special because I won twice in Japan last year but I hadn’t won in China yet. I always played the Chinese Open but I haven’t won and last year I was second, so I really wanted to win a tournament in China and I did it, so I’m really happy.”
The 16-year-old Chinese national team member, Jing Yan, who was born and raised in Singapore, showed her class by leading the amateur honours. She posted rounds of 72, 73 and 71 for an even par total of 216, ending the tournament two shots clear of the next best placed amateur, World No.1 Lydia Ko (14).
Yan was one of eight competitors vying for the amateur title and will now receive two tournament exemptions. She will be offered a spot in the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Meryem Cup taking place from March 22-25 at Golf de L’Ocean in Agadir, Morocco and also to play in the China Ladies Open on the China LPGA Tour taking place during the second week of December.
Yan, who hopes to represent China in the 2016 Olympic Games, said: “It was quite a challenge, this tournament, especially with the strong field of players, both professional and amateur. Getting a chance to play with Lydia Ko, the world number one amateur, again, his is the second time I’ve played with her, so I felt it was a challenge coming into the tournament both mentally and technically. I tried not to think about the tournament too much but more on my game.
“I’m pretty glad that I did better than the first two days but it was a struggle though because from the beginning I felt like, it’s the last day and expectations are higher, so I really wanted to do well.”
Yan has an unusual golf education. She started playing golf aged four and sat in the television commentary box many times as a youngster whilst her father, Ming, was commentating on tournament golf for ESPN.
Meanwhile, in the highly coveted “Best Dressed” player award, it was Danielle Montgomery from England who took the honours with some 21,384 votes and seeing off stiff completion from local girl Shanshan Feng in second place.
The competition has seen a steady build in interest over the three days with a late surge on the last day taking the total number of votes cast to over 100,000.
After collecting her prize, a pearl necklace and pearl hand chain supplied by HaiYu Pearl Co. Ltd., Montgomery said, “It was exciting. I do like to look my best out on course and it was something extra to the whole competition. It got the girls talking and made sure we put some effort into how we dressed, and generated a bit of interest out on course and online.
"I didn’t play my best today but it’s been a fantastic week here at Mission Hills and it’s nice to come away with something!”
With Chinese winners in all three formats of the unique three-in-one event, the 2012 World Ladies Championship could mark a watershed moment for Chinese women’s golf, with many more bright young prospects set to burst through the ranks in the years to come.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL FINAL TOTALS
Mission Hills Haikou, Hainan, China
The Vintage Course
Par 216 (3x72)
206 Shanshan Feng (CHN) 66 69 71
207 Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 68 69 70 208 Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 69 70 69 209 Liying Ye (CHN) 68 67 74, Diana Luna (ITA) 66 71 72
210 Nontaya Srisawang (THA) 70 71 69
212 Giulia Sergas (ITA) 71 73 68, Linda Wessberg (SWE) 69 72 71, Beth Allen (USA) 67 71 74, Melissa Reid (ENG) 70 74 68
213 Lee-Anne Pace (SAF) 71 70 72, Felicity Johnson (ENG) 71 71 71, Florentyna Parker (ENG) 69 68 76, Caroline Masson (GER) 70 70 73
214 Candie Kung (TPE) 67 77 70
215 Jennifer Rosales (PHL) 70 73 72, Line Vedel (DNK) 71 70 74, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (FRA) 74 69 72, Carin Koch (SWE) 68 75 72, Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 73 70 72
216 Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 67 74 75, Jing Yan (CHN) (amateur) 72 73 71
217 Stacey Keating (AUS) 73 72 72, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 70 71 76, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 70 70 77, Xi Yu Lin (CHN) 68 77 72
218 Carly Booth (SCO) 75 76 67, Rebecca Codd (IRL) 67 79 72, Amy Hung (TPE) 69 72 77, Lydia Ko (NZL) (amateur) 71 71 76, Rebecca Flood (AUS) 71 73 74
219 Sophie Giquel-bettan (FRA) 76 72 71, Karen Lunn (AUS) 70 76 73, Yue Xia Lu (CHN) 70 76 73, Stephanie Na (AUS) 72 74 73, Mei Hao Huang (CHN) 75 72 72
220 Pan Pan Yan (CHN) 71 77 72, Cecilie Lundgreen (NOR) 72 70 78, Margherita Rigon (ITA) 71 75 74, Lucie Andre (FRA) 76 71 73, Nikki Garrett (AUS) 74 74 72, Lin Yan Shang (CHN) 73 71 76
221 Sahra Hassan (WAL) 75 71 75, Liebelei Lawrence (LUX) 72 72 77, Malene Jorgensen (DNK) 77 73 71, Yi Chen Liu (TPE) 70 73 78, Caizhu Guo (CHN) 71 72 78, Bo-Mi Suh (KOR) 76 73 72, Kylie Walker (SCO) 75 70 76, Klara Spilkova (HRV) 79 69 73
222 Tao Li Yang (CHN) 75 72 75, Amelia Lewis (USA) 72 75 75, Yun Jye Wei (TPE) 72 71 79
223 Sophie Walker (ENG) 70 78 75, Frances Bondad (AUS) 75 75 73
224 Connie Chen (ZAF) 73 71 80, Tania Elosegui (ESP) 73 74 77
225 Danielle Montgomery (ENG) 72 76 77, Anja Monke (GER) 72 82 71, Ashleigh Simon (SAF) 72 79 74
226 - Yu Yang Zhang (CHN) 73 77 76, Bree Arthur (AUS) 69 77 80, Marieke Nivard (NLD) 75 73 78
227 Dottie Ardina (PHL) 73 80 74
229 Carmen Alonso (ESP) 76 78 75
230 Jia Yun Li (CHN) 75 78 77, Hannah Jun (USA) 74 79 77
231 Marjet Van Der Graaff (NLD) 80 73 78
234 Julie Tvede (DNK) 76 79 79
238 Jessica Ji (SKOR) 80 80 78
243 Xiao Hong Chen (CHN) 82 81 80
LEADING FINAL TEAM TOTALS
1 China (Shan Shan FENG and Li Ying YE).
2 Thailand
3 Sweden
T4 Italy, England.
6 Chinese Taipei.
7 France
8 Norway
9 Germany.
T10 South Africa, Scotland (Carly Booth and Kylie Walker).
Labels: Amateur Ladies, Pro Ladies
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | 1:53:00 pm
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