CATRIONA AND INBEE PARK NEED A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE ... LIKE HIGH WINS AND BAD WEATHER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Catriona Matthew, the Pride of Scotland, and South Korea's  Inbee Park, chasing a fourth Major title in a row, have not given up hope of winning the Ricoh Women's British Open over the Old Course, St Andrews on Sunday.

But they know it will be a tall order, indeed, if either of them can pull off a come-from-behind victory of epic proportions. They are both on the two-under-par 142 mark, Catriona with rounds of  68-74, Inbee with 69-73.

And they both have their fingers crossed for bad weather for the third and fourth rounds, wind especially.

"I didn't quite hit my approach shots as close as I did in the first round," said Matthew, based in North Berwick with her two young daughters and husband-caddie Graeme when she is not playing on the LPGA Tour.

"It was just one of those days. The last green was typical of the round. I hit my second to about 10ft short of the flag ... but

the putt just slid past the hole. I had a lot of putts from that range and I think I missed them all.

"Mind you, we all had more difficult scoring conditions to contend with, particularly on the back nine, are the wind picked up a very heavy spell of rain during the round. I'm eight shots behind the leader, Na Yeon Choi. Over two rounds, I could make that up but I think I need a bit of help from the weather.

"I don't mind if we get a wild wind on Saturday and Sunday. Stronger the better and that would certainly boost my prospects."

Inbee Park, who beat Catriona in a play-off for an earlier Major this season, the LPGA championship, echoed the Scot's sentiments.

"I'm so far back that I need the going to get tough for the leaders and I need a good score first in the third round to close the gap and bit, and then I can perhaps catch the leader over the last 18 holes."

Comrie's Carly Booth, who defends the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Ladies Open title at Archerfield Links at the end of the month, was one of many big names to miss the cut.

Carly did improve by five shots in the second round with a 73 for 151 but nowhere near good enough to qualify for the weekend action. She had birdies at the fifth, sixth and 18th but it's the profusion of bogeys that is killing her just now - shots dropped at the second, 13th, 14th and 17th in halves of 35-38. 
 GEORGIA LEADS AMATEURS AT HALFWAY

The leading amateur going into the last two rounds is 17 year-old English international and Junior Solheim Cup selection, Georgia Hall, the first player to hold the British women's open amateur title as well as the British Under-18 girls' title at the same time.

Georgia carded rounds of 68 and 75 (which included two double bogeys on the back nine) to go into the weekend on one under par 143, one shot ahead of France’s Celine Boutier and two shots in front of World No. 1 amateur, Lydia Ko, from New Zealand. 

Ko,who birdied the 18th, thinking she needed to to beat the cut, is bidding to win her second Smyth Salver, having also claimed the amateur prize at Royal Liverpool 12 months ago.

The cut fell at one over par 145 and among those who missed out were 2010 and 2011 champion Yani Tseng (146), 1986 champion Laura Davies, Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Charley Hull (all 148), three-time champion Karrie Webb (Winner of an LET event in Buckinghamshire last Sunday) and 2004 winner Karen Stupples (150) and amateurs Amy Boulden (150), Gabriella Cowley (156) and  Sarah-Jane Boyd (159). Boulden and Cowley played recently for GB and in the Vagliano Trophy match at Chantilly while Boyd will defending the British women's open amateur stroke-play title at Prestwick before the end of the month.

The biggest casualty of the day was joint first round leader, Camilla Lennarth from Sweden, who opened with a six under par 66 but plummeted to a ten over par 82 in the second round to miss out on 148.

Lennarth and Carly Booth both holed birdie putts at Kingsbarns last Monday evening to survive a 12 for four places sudden-death play-off.

Sic transit gloria for both! 

      A relaxed tournament leader Na Yeon Choi behind the
      microphone in the Media Centre. Picture by Cal Carson
                              Golf Agency

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
By BETHAN CUTLER, LET Media Manager

The eyes of the golfing world are on Inbee Park this week as she goes in pursuit of her fourth straight major championship. However, another talented South Korean stole the limelight in the second round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open on Friday.

Playing under deceptively sunny Scottish skies that belied the strong breeze blowing across the links, world No.4 Na Yeon Choi gave a dominant display on The Old Course at St Andrews.

A second consecutive round of 67 gave her a 36-hole total of 10-under-par and a one stroke lead over Japan’s Miki Saiki.

American Morgan Pressel continued her solid play from Thursday to end in third on eight-under, with American Nicole Castrale, Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and South Korean Jee Young Lee on seven-under in joint fourth. 

The key to Choi’s round was her masterful performance on the difficult, breezy back nine, playing with a cross-wind, which was affecting the direction of the putts on the greens.

With birdies on 12 and 15, combined with seven steady pars, the willowy 25-year-old from Seoul came home in 34 and was one of only a handful of players to play the back nine under par.

“I'm very satisfied the last two rounds.  You know, especially today, the weather wasn't good.  It was very hard.  But my focus was very good and my caddie helped me a lot,” said Choi, the US Women’s Open champion in 2012.

 “And you know, I had a daily goal every day so I just tried to stick with the goal.  It could be like par is 74 or 75 today, but I didn't care, like every hole, par 3, par 4, par 5, doesn't matter for me.  I just try to play one shot at a time and I think that's why I had great results.”

Choi’s caddie, David Jones, a professional golfer at Bushfoot golf course in Portballintrae, Northern Ireland, credited Choi’s pure ball striking.

Jones knows a thing or two about The Old Course, having caddied for Gareth Maybin at The Open Championship in 2010 and at two Dunhill Championships. In fact, he plans to attend European Tour School in September.

He said: “She’s an excellent ball striker and can control the numbers like nobody I’ve ever seen.”

Asian players have won 16 of the last 23 majors played since the championship was first played at St Andrews in 2007, including the last 10 and are once again showing their talents.

World No.1 Inbee Park, who won the first three majors of the season, sits eight shots off the lead heading into the weekend and cannot be ruled out of the title race.

The leading amateur going into the last two rounds is 17 year-old GB and I international, Georgia Hall, the first player to hold the British women's open amateur and British open girls' titles at the same time. She carded rounds of 68 and 75 to go into the weekend on one under par 143, one shot ahead of France’s Celine Boutier and two shots in front of World No. 1 amateur, Lydia Ko, from New Zealand. 

Ko is bidding to win her second Smyth Salver, having also claimed the amateur prize at Royal Liverpool 12 months ago.

The cut fell at one over par 145 and among those who missed out were 2010 and 2011 champion Yani Tseng (146), 1986 champion Laura Davies, Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Charley Hull (all 148), three-time champion Karrie Webb and 2004 winner Karen Stupples (150) and amateurs Amy Boulden (150), Gabriella Cowley (156) and  Sarah-Jane Boyd (159).

The biggest casualty of the day was joint first round leader, Camilla Lennarth from Sweden, who opened with a six under par 66 but plummeted to a ten over par 82 in the second round to miss out on 148.      

 

Ricoh Women’s British Open

The Old Course, St. Andrews

1-4 August, 2013

Scores at the end of round 2:

  Par 144 (2x72)

134 - Na Yeon Choi (SKOR)  67 67

135 - Miki Saiki (JPN)  69 66

136 - Morgan Pressel (USA)  66 70

137 - Jee Young Lee (SKOR)  70 67, Nicole Castrale (USA)  67 70, Suzann Pettersen (NOR)  70 67

138 - Mikaela Parmlid (SWE)  69 69

139 - Mamiko Higa (JPN)  70 69, Hee Young Park (SKOR)  70 69, Stacy Lewis (USA)  67 72, So Yeon Ryu (SKOR)  69 70, Angela Stanford (USA)  69 70

140 - Jenny Shin (KOR)  69 71, Lizette Salas (USA)  68 72, Meena Lee (KOR)  71 69, Ryann O Toole (USA)  67 73, Paula Creamer (USA)  68 72, Xi Yu Lin (CHN)  72 68, Dori Carter (USA)  68 72

141 - Lee-Anne Pace (RSA)  70 71, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE)  68 73

142 - Mariajo Uribe (COL)  69 73, Sydnee Michaels (USA)  67 75, Catriona Matthew (SCO)  68 74, Sun Young Yoo (SKOR)  71 71, Katherine Hull-kirk (AUS)  69 73, Candie Kung (TPE)  72 70, Inbee Park (SKOR)  69 73, Eun Hee Ji (SKOR)  67 75

143 - Holly Clyburn (ENG)  70 73, Sandra Gal (GER)  69 74, Linda Wessberg (SWE)  70 73, Natalie Gulbis (USA)  71 72, I.K. Kim (SKOR)  70 73, Gerina Piller (USA)  74 69, Malene Jorgensen (DEN)  69 74, Ayako Uehara (JPN)  69 74, Danielle Kang (USA)  68 75, Ashleigh Simon (RSA)  71 72, Florentyna Parker (ENG)  69 74, Jessica Korda (USA)  72 71, Liz Young (ENG)  68 75, Brittany Lincicome (USA)  70 73, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  69 74, Georgia Hall (ENG)  68 75, Christel Boeljon (NED)  72 71, Jiyai Shin (KOR)  71 72, Line Vedel (DEN)  72 71

144 - Karine Icher (FRA)  70 74, Celine Boutier (FRA)  72 72, Michelle Wie (USA)  74 70, Sarah Kemp (AUS)  73 71, Emily Taylor (ENG)  70 74, Lindsey Wright (AUS)  70 74, Se Ri Pak (KOR)  71 73, Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED)  73 71, Mi Jung Hur (KOR)  72 72, Anna Nordqvist (SWE)  70 74

145 - Minea Blomqvist (FIN)  71 74, Cristie Kerr (USA)  71 74, Mika Miyazato (JPN)  74 71, Moriya Jutanugarn (THA)  72 73, Thidapa Suwannapura (THA)  71 74, Moira Dunn (USA)  71 74, Shanshan Feng (CHN)  69 76, Rikako Morita (JPN)  70 75, Gwladys Nocera (FRA)  74 71, Lydia Ko (NZL)  69 76, Hee-Kyung Seo (SKOR)  69 76

MISSED THE CUT AT TWO-OVER PAR

146 - Brittany Lang (USA)  70 76, Nontaya Srisawang (THA)  71 75, Yani Tseng (TPE)  72 74, Katie Burnett (USA)  69 77, Caroline Hedwall (SWE)  69 77, Belen Mozo (ESP)  72 74

147 - Jane Park (USA)  71 76, Amy Yang (SKOR)  76 71, Ji Young Oh (KOR)  69 78, Jacqui Concolino (USA)  71 76, Alison Walshe (USA)  71 76, Mi Jeong Jeon (SKOR)  67 80, Jennifer Rosales (PHL)  73 74

148 - Azahara Munoz (ESP)  73 75, Charley Hull (ENG)  76 72, Ai Miyazato (JPN)  69 79, Margherita Rigon (ITA)  73 75, Camilla Lennarth (SWE)  66 82, Chella Choi (SKOR)  71 77, Irene Cho (USA)  71 77, Giulia Sergas (ITA)  76 72, Mo Martin (USA)  75 73, Lisa Mccloskey (USA)  76 72, Julieta Granada (PAR)  71 77, Laura Davies (ENG)  72 76

149 - Sophie Gustafson (SWE)  72 77, Pornanong Phatlum (THA)  72 77, Klara Spilkova (CZE)  73 76, Louise Larsson (SWE)  74 75, Trish Johnson (ENG)  72 77, Cindy Lacrosse (USA)  72 77, Jodi Ewart (ENG)  76 73, Daniela Holmqvist (SWE)  71 78, Il Hee Lee (SKOR)  76 73

150 - Beth Allen (USA)  74 76, Karen Stupples (ENG)  74 76, Jeong Jang (SKOR)  72 78, Katie Futcher (USA)  72 78, Mina Harigae (USA)  71 79, Karrie Webb (AUS)  74 76, Kristy McPherson (USA)  73 77, Caroline Masson (GER)  76 74, Bree Arthur (AUS)  75 75, Austin Ernst (USA)  74 76, Haeji Kang (KOR)  73 77, Amy Boulden (WAL)  70 80, Marta Silva Zamora (ESP)  74 76, Sakura Yokomine (JPN)  74 76, Juli Inkster (USA)  73 77

151 - Momoko Ueda (JPN)  75 76, Laura Diaz (USA)  71 80, Nikki Campbell (AUS)  75 76, Jennifer Johnson (USA)  74 77, Paolo Moreno (COL)  72 79, Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS)  75 76, Stacey Keating (AUS)  74 77, Carly Booth (SCO)  78 73, Nicole Hage (USA)  75 76

152 - Whitney Hillier (AUS)  75 77, Christina Kim (USA)  75 77, Mindy Kim (KOR)  73 79, Amelia Lewis (USA)  74 78, Lexi Thompson (USA)  75 77

153 - Chie Arimura (JPN)  75 78, Felicity Johnson (ENG)  76 77

154 - Becky Morgan (WAL)  76 78, Sahra Hassan (WAL)  74 80, Beatriz Recari (ESP)  78 76, Tania Elosegui (ESP)  75 79

155 - Veronica Zorzi (ITA)  73 82, Helen Alfredsson (SWE)  73 82, Carlota Ciganda (ESP)  74 81

156 - Gabriella Cowley (ENG)  75 81

159 - Sarah-Jane Boyd (ENG)  77 82, Vicky Hurst (USA)  77 82

 

Bethan Cutler

Media Manager

Ladies European Tour