SUZANN PETTERSEN ON COURSE TO RETAIN LPGA TAIWAN CHAMPIONSHIP
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITEDespite a difficult start on Saturday, Suzann Pettersen
remains in the lead at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship as she
fought back to a fire one-over-par 73.
Inching one-step closer to defending her title in Taiwan, Pettersen (pictured) carded three birdies and four bogeys to take a four-stroke lead over South Korean Sun Young Yoo and Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Carlota Ciganda heading into Sunday’s final round at Sunrise Golf and Country Club, Yang Mei, Taoyaun, Taiway
Pettersen entered Saturday’s third-round five-strokes clear of her nearest competitor but the Norwegian saw her lead begin to dwindle after bogeys at Nos. 2, 4, and 5.
“You know, I had a great warm-up, felt good,” said Pettersen. “On the second, I kind of made a little amateur mistake trying to get too cute on the tee ball and left myself with a very tough up-and-down. I just couldn't get it going and made a few errors.
"Today was a tough day for me. It was all about hanging in there and trying to bring it back to where I started.”
Following the string of bogeys, Pettersen’s fierce competitive nature took center stage as she regained control of her round with birdies at the par-5 eighth and par-5 13th before faltering with another bogey at the 17th. Pettersen finished her round in style with a birdie at the 18th to post a three-day total of 6-under-par.
While Pettersen saw her round quickly beginning to slip through her fingertips, she was able to withstand difficult scoring conditions at Sunrise Golf and Country Club and maintain a comfortable lead heading into Sunday.
“I could easily have lost it out there today,” said Pettersen. “It was -- you know, some days are easy, some days are not that easy, some of the times you see everything you're going to do right in front of you.
"Other times you fall in-between clubs and are not quite sure and then you start questioning if it's enough, if you had enough -- if it's going to be too spinning. It's one of those days where you can be very analytic, and it's all in the conditions to be analytic. One more day in these conditions.”
As Pettersen aims to defend her title in Taiwan and continue to make a dent into Inbee Park’s lead in the Rolex Player of the Year race, LPGA Official Money List, and Rolex Rankings, she finds herself entering tomorrow’s final round in a better position than last year. During the 2012 Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship, Pettersen was forced to overcome a two-stroke deficit to Park on her way to the winner’s circle.
If Pettersen wins tomorrow’s Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship, it will be the first-time she has successfully defended a title on the LPGA Tour.
Lucky dog… Suzann Pettersen has had a string of good luck in Taiwan as she is in position to defend her title at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship. Following yesterday’s second-round, Pettersen attributed the good luck to a dog figurine she received from Taiwan’s own, Yani Tseng.
“You know what, when I played Swinging Skirts last year, I was out for dinner with Annika (Sorenstam) and Yani (Tseng) and Yani had bought both of us this present, and she gave this dog,” said Pettersen. “It's because my birthday is in April and she said, this is your good luck charm for the year. It's a Chinese, what do you call it, on the Chinese calendar I guess. It's a dog year, whatever, and I've kept it very close to my heart ever since. So I guess that is my lucky charm. It's not a real dog, like a little statue.”
While Pettersen already has three wins under her belt this year, Tseng is still search of her first victory this season. Following an even-par 72 in the third round, the former Rolex Rankings No. 1 joked it was time to take the dog back.
“Wow, I didn’t know it really works, I should have asked her to give it back to me,” said Tseng with a laugh. “Seriously, we are good friends and live very close from each other. I am happy she is on a hot streak.”
Despite Tseng’s struggles this season, Pettersen has stood-by her close friend’s side every step of the way.
“I will buy her a real dog,” joked Pettersen. “Yani and I have been good friends for a long time. She's a great girl. I've pretty much had a great friendship with her from the second she joined the Tour. We've had a great friendship both on and off the golf course and I think we both have made each other better. We practice together; we play together, and even though you're competitors, sometimes it's good to play golf with each other. I think as much as you are the feisty competitors, you make each other better.”
This summer, Tseng reached out to Pettersen for some much needed advice during a year that has included only three top-10 finishes. While Pettersen is in the midst of a swing of tournaments that has produced two wins and two top-3 finishes, she admitted to missing competitive rounds with her close friend.
“What she's achieved so far in her career, it's hard to repeat,” said Pettersen. “I told her that this summer. She came up to me and asked me what I thought of her game. I said, ‘Yani, you can't put the bar where -- you can't expect to win 12 tournaments a year. If you do that, you're going to be pretty much disappointed every season from now on’”.
“You know, golf, it's a funny game,” added Pettersen. “Sometimes you're on a roll, it feels like you can do whatever you feel like. Other times, it could be very marginal and everything going against you. But she's way too good to dig herself a big hole and disappear. She's way too good of a golfer for that. I try to keep supporting her, trying to help her bring her “A Game” back, because I miss our feisty rounds together.”
Back on track… It has been a long, frustrating year for Azahara Munoz but if Saturday’s third round of the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship is any indication, it looks as if the Spaniard is back on track.
In the midst of a season that has included only one top-10 finish at the Kia Classic, the struggles began to ensue for Munoz after a move to the United States forced her to go a long length of time without seeing her swing coach.
“Yeah, it's been a long year,” said Munoz. “I didn't see my coach for a very long time because I moved to the States. I was trying to make swing changes to my own and it was just a little mess, so now I'm finally back to normal.”
After seeing her swing coach in September before The Evian Championship, things have been back to normal for Munoz indeed as she recently picked-up a win in France on the Ladies European Tour.
Munoz’s solid play has continued this week as rounds of 73-72-69 has her five-strokes behind Suzann Pettersen heading into tomorrow’s final round.
Currently ranked No. 34 in the Rolex Rankings, Munoz has a good history in Taiwan as she finished tied for second in 2011 and tied for eighth last year.
“I don't know what it is,” said Munoz of why she has good history in Taiwan. “I think I don't mind playing in the wind I would say, and maybe everybody else does. So, I don't know, I just tried to play my game. My ball doesn't move much in the wind. That's one of my strengths and I can kind of go right at it.”
Catriona Matthew is T29 on 221 after rounds of 75, 74 and 72.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Inching one-step closer to defending her title in Taiwan, Pettersen (pictured) carded three birdies and four bogeys to take a four-stroke lead over South Korean Sun Young Yoo and Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Carlota Ciganda heading into Sunday’s final round at Sunrise Golf and Country Club, Yang Mei, Taoyaun, Taiway
Pettersen entered Saturday’s third-round five-strokes clear of her nearest competitor but the Norwegian saw her lead begin to dwindle after bogeys at Nos. 2, 4, and 5.
“You know, I had a great warm-up, felt good,” said Pettersen. “On the second, I kind of made a little amateur mistake trying to get too cute on the tee ball and left myself with a very tough up-and-down. I just couldn't get it going and made a few errors.
"Today was a tough day for me. It was all about hanging in there and trying to bring it back to where I started.”
Following the string of bogeys, Pettersen’s fierce competitive nature took center stage as she regained control of her round with birdies at the par-5 eighth and par-5 13th before faltering with another bogey at the 17th. Pettersen finished her round in style with a birdie at the 18th to post a three-day total of 6-under-par.
While Pettersen saw her round quickly beginning to slip through her fingertips, she was able to withstand difficult scoring conditions at Sunrise Golf and Country Club and maintain a comfortable lead heading into Sunday.
“I could easily have lost it out there today,” said Pettersen. “It was -- you know, some days are easy, some days are not that easy, some of the times you see everything you're going to do right in front of you.
"Other times you fall in-between clubs and are not quite sure and then you start questioning if it's enough, if you had enough -- if it's going to be too spinning. It's one of those days where you can be very analytic, and it's all in the conditions to be analytic. One more day in these conditions.”
As Pettersen aims to defend her title in Taiwan and continue to make a dent into Inbee Park’s lead in the Rolex Player of the Year race, LPGA Official Money List, and Rolex Rankings, she finds herself entering tomorrow’s final round in a better position than last year. During the 2012 Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship, Pettersen was forced to overcome a two-stroke deficit to Park on her way to the winner’s circle.
If Pettersen wins tomorrow’s Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship, it will be the first-time she has successfully defended a title on the LPGA Tour.
Lucky dog… Suzann Pettersen has had a string of good luck in Taiwan as she is in position to defend her title at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship. Following yesterday’s second-round, Pettersen attributed the good luck to a dog figurine she received from Taiwan’s own, Yani Tseng.
“You know what, when I played Swinging Skirts last year, I was out for dinner with Annika (Sorenstam) and Yani (Tseng) and Yani had bought both of us this present, and she gave this dog,” said Pettersen. “It's because my birthday is in April and she said, this is your good luck charm for the year. It's a Chinese, what do you call it, on the Chinese calendar I guess. It's a dog year, whatever, and I've kept it very close to my heart ever since. So I guess that is my lucky charm. It's not a real dog, like a little statue.”
While Pettersen already has three wins under her belt this year, Tseng is still search of her first victory this season. Following an even-par 72 in the third round, the former Rolex Rankings No. 1 joked it was time to take the dog back.
“Wow, I didn’t know it really works, I should have asked her to give it back to me,” said Tseng with a laugh. “Seriously, we are good friends and live very close from each other. I am happy she is on a hot streak.”
Despite Tseng’s struggles this season, Pettersen has stood-by her close friend’s side every step of the way.
“I will buy her a real dog,” joked Pettersen. “Yani and I have been good friends for a long time. She's a great girl. I've pretty much had a great friendship with her from the second she joined the Tour. We've had a great friendship both on and off the golf course and I think we both have made each other better. We practice together; we play together, and even though you're competitors, sometimes it's good to play golf with each other. I think as much as you are the feisty competitors, you make each other better.”
This summer, Tseng reached out to Pettersen for some much needed advice during a year that has included only three top-10 finishes. While Pettersen is in the midst of a swing of tournaments that has produced two wins and two top-3 finishes, she admitted to missing competitive rounds with her close friend.
“What she's achieved so far in her career, it's hard to repeat,” said Pettersen. “I told her that this summer. She came up to me and asked me what I thought of her game. I said, ‘Yani, you can't put the bar where -- you can't expect to win 12 tournaments a year. If you do that, you're going to be pretty much disappointed every season from now on’”.
“You know, golf, it's a funny game,” added Pettersen. “Sometimes you're on a roll, it feels like you can do whatever you feel like. Other times, it could be very marginal and everything going against you. But she's way too good to dig herself a big hole and disappear. She's way too good of a golfer for that. I try to keep supporting her, trying to help her bring her “A Game” back, because I miss our feisty rounds together.”
Back on track… It has been a long, frustrating year for Azahara Munoz but if Saturday’s third round of the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship is any indication, it looks as if the Spaniard is back on track.
In the midst of a season that has included only one top-10 finish at the Kia Classic, the struggles began to ensue for Munoz after a move to the United States forced her to go a long length of time without seeing her swing coach.
“Yeah, it's been a long year,” said Munoz. “I didn't see my coach for a very long time because I moved to the States. I was trying to make swing changes to my own and it was just a little mess, so now I'm finally back to normal.”
After seeing her swing coach in September before The Evian Championship, things have been back to normal for Munoz indeed as she recently picked-up a win in France on the Ladies European Tour.
Munoz’s solid play has continued this week as rounds of 73-72-69 has her five-strokes behind Suzann Pettersen heading into tomorrow’s final round.
Currently ranked No. 34 in the Rolex Rankings, Munoz has a good history in Taiwan as she finished tied for second in 2011 and tied for eighth last year.
“I don't know what it is,” said Munoz of why she has good history in Taiwan. “I think I don't mind playing in the wind I would say, and maybe everybody else does. So, I don't know, I just tried to play my game. My ball doesn't move much in the wind. That's one of my strengths and I can kind of go right at it.”
Catriona Matthew is T29 on 221 after rounds of 75, 74 and 72.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Labels: LPGA TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | 6:49:00 pm
<< Home