Archive for April, 2009
April 30, 2009
The Nationwide Tour has postponed the Mexico Open golf tournament scheduled for May 21-24 because of the swine flu outbreak.
Nationwide Tour president Bill Calfee says it will be rescheduled for later in the year.
The Mexico Open was to be played at El Bosque Golf Club in Leon, located about 200 miles northwest of Mexico City.
A significant number of lives have been lost in Mexico, which is tragic, Calfee said. There are more important things for people to focus on at the moment.
The Mexico Open, first played in 1944, is jointly sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and the Mexican Golf Federation.
Also, the Canadian Tour has postponed a golf tournament in Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak.
The San Luis Potosi Open, which was scheduled to begin Thursday, has been put off indefinitely.
On Tuesday, the Canadian Tour postponed the final two events of its Mexican swing because of health concerns. Both the Yucatan Country Club Classic and the Iberostar Riviera Maya Open are being rescheduled and will take place on consecutive weeks later on the 2009 schedule.
April 30, 2009
Australasian PGA Tour commissioner Ben Sellenger plans to take up the cases of four Australian players who were fined and suspended from the Asian Tour for playing in the first tournament of the rival OneAsia series.
Ashley Hall, Chris Gaunt, Brad Kennedy and Jason King were this week fined $5,000 and suspended from the Asian Tour for the remainder of 2009 after playing in the China Open earlier this month.
Asian Tour players, except those who qualified via the European Tour or Chinese tour, which co-sanctioned the China Open, boycotted the event.
Asian Tour chief executive Kyi Hla Han said all players knew the possible ramifications before entering the China Open.
Sellenger, whose Australasian PGA created the OneAsia concept along with the Korean and Chinese golf organizations despite opposition from the existing Asian Tour, said the bans were discriminatory and hed take the matter up with the Asian Tour.
The Volvo China Open is a $2.2 million event, a significant opportunity that they actually qualify for through their performances on the Australasian Tour, Sellenger was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press. Ultimately you had somebody like Ashley Hall who fortunately performed very well, had a great week and finished third, and why shouldnt he be able to reap the rewards of that opportunity without facing certain penalties.
Sellenger said players on conditional Asian Tour cards who qualified for the China Open via the European or Chinese Tours were not sanctioned and wanted to know why the Australians were treated differently.
The unfortunate circumstance in all of this is that while the Asian Tour has banned certain players, in other circumstances they granted releases, he told AAP.
The players have seven days to appeal. The Asian Tour said no appeals had been lodged by Wednesday and reiterated that all players were made aware of their guidelines before the China Open started.
The China Open was the first of six tournaments planned for the OneAsia tour this year. The second, the Beijing Open, has already been canceled. Other events are planned for China, South Korea and Australia.
Organizers are expecting the Japan Tour to join an expanded series in 2010, increasing the battle for control of professional golf in Asia.
The Asian Tour has been opposed to a rival continental golf series since its conception.
April 30, 2009
Tiger Woods crouched behind the ball and eyed the cup with his steely glare. He then rose, moved forward and placed his putter to the left of the hole.
Peyton Manning nodded, addressed the ball - and missed the putt.
Bad read, a fan yelled, producing a burst of laughter from the overflow crowd surrounding the 15th green.
It was part of a morning of needling, smiles, American football talk - and some good ball-striking, too - as the worlds No. 1 golfer played 18 holes with his three-time NFL MVP friend in the Quail Hollow Championship pro-am on Wednesday.
We dont get a chance to do it very often with our schedules, and seasons overlapping at the wrong times, so when we do get an opportunity like that, its fun, Woods said of playing with the Indianapolis Colts quarterback. Its trash talking the entire day.
The grouping of the two superstars marked the second time that Woods was not the sole attraction the day before the tournament began. Before winning the 2007 event here, Woods played the pro-am with Michael Jordan.
Mannings presence created a similar rare scene of fans waiting for Woods to clear the green so they could surround Manning with No. 18 jerseys and Colts helmets to sign.
Whether its Peyton or when I played out here with MJ, we have fun, and thats the thing, Woods said. These guys are my friends, and its great to play with friends.
The 6-foot-1 (1.86-meterO Woods had to look up at the 6-5 (1.96) Manning as they chatted in fairways and tee boxes. A bond created by their understanding of the pressure of fame and expectations, they became friends several years ago.
The duo played in a pro-am in 2005 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Theyve also played private rounds together as recently as March in Florida.
Wednesday was hardly private. They teed off at 7:30 a.m. with several hundred fans craning their necks to see around the first tee. The crowd following them swelled into the thousands as the morning wore on.
Its everything youd think it would be, Manning said. Its really special. Watching him hit the ball, listening to him hit the ball, he tells great golf stories.
He has a great interest in football. He follows football, keeps up with the Colts, which is cool. Hes a great host. He played great today and we had a lot of fun.
Mannings not a bad golfer, either, although he acknowledged he had to overcome some early nerves. He showed a powerful drive and decent iron game as he played from the member tees.
He can give it out with the best of them, Manning said of Woods. The problem is Im always on his turf.
This is true, very true, Woods said, laughing. Keep it that way.
After they each parred the final hole, the winner of 14 major titles and the former Super Bowl MVP shook hands and smiled before signing autographs for throngs of fans.
They then parted ways. Woods went to hit more balls as he prepared for Thursdays first round in his first tournament since the Masters.
Manning headed home.
I know what my day job is. Ill be back in Indianapolis in probably two hours lifting weights, Manning said. Well be brought back to earth real soon.
April 30, 2009
A tip of the hat and handshakes for Masters champion Angel Cabrera.
A pat on the back for Chad Campbell.
And for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, reflections of a green jacket that got away from them.
Except for Kenny Perry, the leading characters from the Masters return to competition this week at the Quail Hollow Championship, their first time seeing their peers and the press since that memorable Sunday afternoon this month at Augusta National.
Only one of them had reason to celebrate.
Cabrera scrambled for par from the trees at No. 18 in a playoff, then won on the second extra hole to defeat Perry and Campbell and capture his second major. Four days later, he was feted at what amounts to a club championship at his home club in Argentina.
It was incredible to go back to my country and to be with my people, just was really a special, special feeling, Cabrera said through his Houston-based swing coach, Charlie Epps.
And it got even better when he arrived at Quail Hollow, the tree-lined course with a major championship atmosphere.
Its very nice that my fellow professionals have congratulated me the way that they have, Cabrera said.
Woods still commanded all the attention on Wednesday, partly because of his status as the No. 1 player and a 14-time major champion, and partly because of the company he kept. Woods played with Peyton Manning, the three-time NFL MVP quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, and both sides of the fairway were lined with spectators as they finished the round.
Despite not taking advantage of some easy scoring conditions at Augusta National, and now going a career-long four years without winning another green jacket, the time off gave Woods some perspective on the state of his game.
He has played four times since his eight-month layoff due to reconstructive knee surgery. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he has finished in the top 10 in all of his stroke-play events.
Ive had people remind me to look at it that way, he said with a smile. I have a hard time looking at it that way. Its just the nature of how I am. You want to try and win every event you play in, and obviously, I havent done that this year. But Ive had some successes this year. Even the years that Ive won nine times, eight times in a year, you still look at all the times you didnt win.
Mickelson tied a Masters record with a 30 on the front nine, but his charge to a third green jacket stalled with a tee shot into Raes Creek and two missed birdie putts inside 5 feet. After a few weeks to reflect, he saw only positives.
Im looking forward to getting back and playing, he said. I had a fun time at Augusta, and I cant wait to get back out. Ive been working on my game and Im excited about the rest of the year. Weve got a big tournament every month.
It starts with Quail Hollow, the tournament formerly known as the Wachovia Championship until the Wachovia bank was acquired by Wells Fargo, and the new owner decided to take its name off the tournament under scrutiny over taking federal money.
The defending champion is Anthony Kim, although Woods could claim part-ownership. He won at Quail Hollow two years ago, then missed last year while recovering from the first of his two knee surgeries.
The course is in pristine shape, and its easy to see why club president Johnny Harris - who joined Woods and Manning - is courting a U.S. PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup for Quail Hollow. The difference this year is the lack of rough, with the difficulty aimed for greens that are expected to be faster than ever.
Its not what weve seen here in years past, past champion Jim Furyk said. I think its a good enough golf course it doesnt matter. This is one of those tournaments that probably has a bit more of a green light to kind of mess around with the setup and see whats best and whats not, because the players like the course so much and support this event so well.
Woods, who is testing a new shaft in his driver, says he is starting to get some pop back in his swing. He might need that, especially after Mickelson was continually hitting it past him during their final-round pairing at the Masters.
He will play three times before the next major, the U.S. Open. And it wasnt long after the Masters that he began gearing up for his title defense at Bethpage Black.
Probably took me a couple of days, he said. Just wanted to go over what happened there and make sure I thought about what I did right and wrong, and analyze it and prepare, and start game-planning for the Open.
April 29, 2009
Jeff Klauk might know every blade of grass on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass after growing up watching his father, retired golf course superintendent Fred Klauk, tend to the course for The US Players Championship.
Barring an unlikely turn of events, the U.S. PGA Tour rookie will see the course next week like never before.
Because two international players decided not to play, Klauk earned the final spot in the field next week based on a solid start to his season that has put him 42nd in the FedEx Cup standings.
The only way he could lose his spot would be for someone not already eligible to win the Quail Hollow Championship.
The top 10 players in the FedEx Cup standings after last week were assured a place in the field at The Players Championship. The tour then goes down the standings as far as necessary to fill the 144-man field.
Miguel Angel Jimenez and Shingo Katayama elected not to play, leaving the tournament with 141 players. David Toms (No. 21) and Scott Piercy (No. 40) took those spots, and Klauk will get the last one.
Having mowed greens and fairways and all that stuff, and then coming to a tournament and you see maintenance guys, how many hours they have to work to get the course in the conditions that they are in, it takes a lot of hours, Klauk said this year. Just makes me appreciate things a lot more than a lot of other people.
Also added to the field last week was Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who won in South Korea and moved to No. 49 in the world ranking.
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QUAIL HOLLOW FUTURE: Wells Fargo, which acquired Wachovia last year, has taken its name off the tournament this week, which is why it is now called the Quail Hollow Championship. The bank also acquired a contract with the U.S. PGA Tour that runs through 2014, and tournament officials do not expect it to be broken before then.
That likely will be the end of a U.S. PGA Tour stop in Charlotte - but not necessarily major golf.
PGA of America officials are in town this week as the guest of club president Johnny Harris, who is trying to land the 2017 U.S. PGA Championship and the 2024 Ryder Cup.
Whether it gets the two major events remains to be seen. Davis Love III is not convinced it will work, although it has nothing to do with the golf course, considered among the best on tour.
Theres a lot of courses that can handle a major championship - certainly, Quail Hollow as a golf course can, Love said two weeks ago at Hilton Head. Its the infrastructure. If Johnny Harris said, You all come look at Quail Hollow for a U.S. Open or a PGA, they wouldnt look much at the golf course. Theyd say, Wait a minute, is there room for parking? And is there room for corporate hospitality? Is there room for buses? If you get an extra large tournament, can you handle it?
The golf course is great, he said. It would certainly handle a major championship. But I dont think theres enough room for everything else that goes with it.
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OHAIR PLANS: Sean OHair goes into the U.S. Open with some uncertainty at home, although there is little question he will play.
His wife, Jackie, is expecting their third child on June 25 - four days after the U.S. Open at New York. They are expecting a boy that they plan to name Grady Quinn.
Hopefully, he comes the week before, because Im taking that week off, OHair said.
But what if it comes early, and OHair gets a call in the middle of a round?
He wont be carrying a beeper, as Phil Mickelson did at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1999. He will leave, but not for long.
If I get the call, Ill finish my round and then fly home (to Philadelphia) and see the baby and make sure Jackie is OK. Then Ill go back, OHair said, pausing to smile, and win the U.S. Open.
OHair, 26, already has a 4-year-old daughter (Molly) and an 18-month-old son (Luke).
April 29, 2009
The HSBC Champions tournament will become part of the elite World Golf Championship series from November, presenting Tiger Woods with a new challenge in Asia.
The International Federation of PGA Tours announced Tuesday that the Shanghai event, first staged four years ago, had been elevated to World Golf Championship status and would increase its prize money to $7 million - a high for the sport in the region.
Top-ranked Woods and defending champion Sergio Garcia have confirmed their entries for the Nov. 5-8 tournament.
Woods has won 15 of the 31 WGC events to date, including at least one every year from from 1999-2008.
He was runner-up at HSBC Champions tournament at Shanghais Sheshan International Golf Club in 2005 and 2006, and now has extra incentive to win the title and add it to his other WGC wins.
It is an event that symbolizes the amazing progress of golf in Asia and its new World Golf Championships status underlines how firmly China has established its place on the global golf calendar, Woods said in a statement. I enjoy playing around the world when possible, and having a WGC event in China is very important to the global growth of the game.
The HSBC Champions began in 2005 and had been sanctioned by every major golf tour except the PGA Tour. The expansion to WGC status and the extra prize money will make it the richest golf event in Asia.
This is one of the most significant steps ever taken in the globalization of golf, and one of the most logical, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement. It was obviously the tournament outside golfs traditional heartlands that was tailor-made to be included as a World Golf Championships event.
World-class golf has arrived on this continent and the map of the golf world may never look the same.
The decision to raise the status of the tournament was a coup for Shanghai, which has sought to burnish its credentials as a major sports venue for Formula One auto racing, tennis and football as well as golf.
HSBC Champions plans to return to Shanghai in 2010, when the city hosts the World Expo. But 2011, 2012 and beyond is up for discussion, Giles Morgan, HSBCs head of sponsorships, told reporters in Shanghai.
Zhang Xiaoning, general secretary of the Chinese Golf Association, said the decision would hinge largely on support from the local government.
The course is important but the other issue is the attitude of the local officials and their support, Zhang said.
HSBC Champions organizers said the qualifying criteria would be altered. International fields for the WGC events are selected using the official world rankings and the money lists for the individual sanctioning tours involved, which include the PGA Tour, European Tour, Asian Tour, Australasian Tour and Japan Tour.
Chinese players have yet to make significant inroads in WGC, 25 years after the sport was reintroduced to their country.
We have great golf courses and Im certain we have the people. What we lack is the technique to play good golf, Zhang said.
The World Golf Championships have been held on five continents since 1999. In 2009, the Accenture Match Play Championships was held in Arizona, the CA Championships at Doral, Florida, and the Bridgestone Invitational is set for Akron, Ohio in August.
Woods will travel to Australia the week after the HSBC Champions for the Australian Masters near Melbourne.
April 29, 2009
No longer can anyone say the World Golf Championships are played only in America.
In an announcement that raised several questions, not to mention a few eyebrows, the HSBC Champions in China was promoted on Tuesday as the fourth WGC event on the schedule.
But this one is not like the other three, and not just because of its location.
The HSBC Champions in Shanghai will be played from Nov. 5-8 - one week before the U.S. PGA Tour season ends at Disney World - but it will not count as an official U.S. PGA Tour victory, nor will any earnings from the $7 million purse count toward the U.S. money list.
So its a WGC with an asterisk, Geoff Ogilvy suggested.
However, the winner will be eligible for the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua each January.
A double asterisk, Ogilvy added.
It will be the only WGC in which the world ranking is not part of the criteria. Instead, the 78-man field will be determined largely by tournament winners from around the world - the four majors, three other WGCs, 23 select events on the U.S. PGA Tour and European Tour, nine from the Asian Tour, and five each from Japan, South Africa and Australia.
Tiger Woods already has said he will be there, giving the tournament instant credibility. He was runner-up the two previous times he played in Shanghai, but now that its a WGC, it will be the only world championship he hasnt won.
Sergio Garcia is the defending champion. And the fact it falls two weeks before the inaugural Dubai World Championship means the tournament likely will have a strong presence from the European troops - Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy.
But it raises a question that has been brought up before.
If you take a World Golf Championship out of America, will the Americans go?
Even when these WGCs were part of the U.S. PGA Tour schedule and counted as an official victory with official money, there was no guarantee the Americans would leave home. A dozen of them, including five of the top 10 in the world ranking, skipped out on the American Express Championship at Spain in 2000.
That prompted this famous line from Stuart Appleby: Theyre like a bag of prawns on a hot Sunday. They dont travel well.
A year later at the Accenture Match Play Championship, 38 eligible players - half of them from the United States - stayed home for the holidays instead of traveling to Australia.
The U.S. PGA Tour can only hope history doesnt repeat itself in China.
And some of the skeptics already are lining up.
If its not going to have the same field as the rest of them, its not really a world event, is it? Robert Allenby said.
He was talking about the world ranking not being used for China - the previous tournament insisted that it keep the character of its field by emphasizing champions - but he also alluded to the strength of the field.
With very few exceptions, anyone eligible for the WGCs in America typically show up. A year ago, the WGCs had the highest world ranking points of any tournament behind the four majors and The U.S. Players Championship.
Will that be the case in China?
We expect our players to support the event if theyre eligible. Were anticipating they will, U.S. PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said. We should wait to see how that plays out.
Tour commissioner Tim Finchem described this development as one of the most significant steps ever taken in the globalization of golf, and one of the most logical. Indeed, it makes perfect sense to add a WGC event in China, a burgeoning golf market. Plus, the HSBC Champions is known as Asias major because of its high quality.
How does it help the U.S. PGA Tour?
Even if not all the eligible players attend, it elevates the status of a tournament halfway around the world. And as U.S. PGA Tour board member Stewart Cink points out, it gives the other umbrella sponsors of WGC events - Accenture, Bridgestone and CA - access and exposure in a market where they have a presence.
The biggest challenge - not just for the Americans - is that WGC events do not offer appearance money. Marquee players hardly ever play in Asia without getting something under the table.
But the schedule might allow for such players to make up for that. The Barclays Singapore Open, where Phil Mickelson typically plays, is the week before the new WGC event, and the Hong Kong Open is the week after. In Woods case, he will get $3 million the following week by playing the Australian Masters.
What it might hurt is the Fall Series on the U.S. tour, particularly the Viking Classic in Mississippi the week before China, and Disney the week after. Then again, those tournaments werent exactly attracting the top players, anyway. The FedEx Cup already minimized them.
But when the money and victory dont count in the U.S. PGA Tour record books, whats in it for an American player?
The $7 million purse is the largest in Asia, but American-based players compete for prize money of $6 million or more 25 times throughout the year without having to get a stamp in their passport (assuming they have one).
Why go?
Perhaps Sean OHair summed it up best.
Its a chance to compete against the best players in the world, he said. Ill go.
April 28, 2009
Stewart Cink could have done a teleconference Monday to promote Junes Travelers Championship, where he is the defending champion.
But Cink, who is playing this week at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, instead flew to Connecticut for the day to shake hands with tournament supporters and meet with members of the media.
In these tough economic times, he said, its important for golfers to support tournaments like this one, which recently received a commitment from the insurance company to sponsor the event through 2014.
At a time when everyone else is running for safety, for Travelers to step forward like that, its a big deal, Cink said.
The event, which began in 1952 as the Insurance City Open and later became the Greater Hartford Open, was on the verge of extinction when Canon dropped out as title sponsor after 2002. Buick stepped in as a bridge sponsor before Travelers agreed to become the title sponsor for the 2007 event.
With the companys help, the tournament last year opened a state-of-the art practice facility, and this year will have an expanded Fan Zone on the golf course, with attractions such as a rock climbing wall, miniature golf and free concerts in the evening when play is over.
Cink, a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, said hes been trying to convince other golfers they also need to step up and play in tournaments like this one, to send a message of support to companies that make long-term commitments to the sport.
As the players play, the fields are better and the value is up for television, for the sponsors and its a better world for all of us, Cink said. Thats been difficult to get across to some players.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell, the honorary chairman of the tournament, said its also important to the state, which looks to the Travelers as an economic driver.
Every time were on television and they say the words in Cromwell, Connecticut and then they show this beautiful course and they show these wonderful players, Im thinking to myself, Cha-ching, cha-ching, she joked.
The tournaments spot on the schedule, in June just after the U.S. Open, has hurt the field in the past. Many golfers like to take the week off after a major. But this year, the Open will be held at Bethpage on Long Island, less than 130 miles from Cromwell.
The tournament already has received commitments from players such as Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, Anthony Kim and Stuart Appleby.
The travel is the one difficult part of what we do out here, Cink said. If you take the difficulties and the stumbling blocks out of the equation than theres less reason for anybody to say no.
There has been talk of requiring all golfers to play every stop on the tournament at least once every four years. But Cink worries that would lead Tiger Woods, who has never played in Cromwell, to simply pack his bags every summer and head to the European tour.
Andy Bessette, Travelers executive vice president and chief administrative officer, agreed that such a rule wouldnt be good for the tournaments.
I think it would be very helpful if the players once in a while supported every tournament, he said. If Tiger were to play here, great, but its important to have people who want to be here.
April 28, 2009
The HSBC Champions in China has been elevated to a World Golf Championship this year with a new qualifying criteria and a $7 million purse, the highest ever for a golf tournament in Asia.
Tiger Woods already has said he will play, along with defending champion Sergio Garcia.
The HSBC Champions began in 2005 and had been sanctioned by every major golf tour except the PGA Tour. That changes with its designation as the fourth World Golf Championship, and the only one not staged in the United States.
Woods was runner-up his first two times playing the HSBC Champions, and will return for the Nov. 5-8 event.
It is an event that symbolizes the amazing progress of golf in Asia, and its new World Golf Championships status underlines how firmly China has established its place on the global golf calendar, Woods said. I enjoy playing around the world when possible, and having a WGC event in China is very important to the global growth of the game.
The worlds No. 1 player has won every WGC event since the series began in 1999.
The HSBC Champions again will be played at Sheshan International Golf Club. It will not count as official money in the United States.
This is one of the most significant steps ever taken in the globalization of golf, and one of the most logical, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.
The 78-man field will be limited to winners from every major tour in the world. Along with the major championships, the three WGC events in America and The Players Championship, qualifying will include winners from 23 top-rated tournaments on the PGA Tour and the European Tour, nine tournament winners from the Asian Tour and five each from the Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour in South Africa and Australasian Tour.
But it will not be known until the fall how many Americans will bother going, especially after their official season has ended and any money earned will not count toward the PGA Tour money list.
Even when a WGC event previously was played in Europe, several U.S.-based players did not attend.
April 27, 2009
Mexican star Lorena Ochoa shot a 5-under 68 on Sunday to hold off Norways Suzann Pettersen by a stroke in a dramatic final round and win the Corona Championship for the second straight year.
Ochoa, who also won the tournament in 2006, had back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to break a tie with Pettersen and finish at 25-under 267.
The charismatic star played without regular caddy Dave Booker, who got hurt playing a soccer match on Saturday and was unable to help the 27-year-old Ochoa around Tres Marias Residential Country Club. She ended up calling on childhood coach Rafael Alarcon to caddy for her.
I hope Dave gets well soon, we dont know for how long hes going to be out, but Rafa was very important today. He knows my game very well and we will make a decision for the future later on this week, Ochoa said.
Rafa has been giving me advice since I was little, so we didnt do anything different out there, just enjoy it.
Alarcon helped Ochoa win her 26th career title and second this season. It was also Ochoas third win in her home country, where she has played 11 of the 13 LPGA Tour events staged there.
South Koreas Na Yeon Choi finished third at 18 under, Wendy Ward was another shot back and Christie Kerr and Yani Tseng tied for fifth at 16-under par.
Ochoa, who won last years tournament by 11 shots, didnt have such an easy time on Sunday despite finishing the tournament with the exact same score.
In a golf tournament, where one (stroke) is enough to win, there is no difference. This is a complicated year, there are many players who want to win, you can see that every week, Ochoa added. This year, it will be very hard to win by 10. That is why I keep practicing, trying to improve - to remain on top of them.
Pettersen tied for the lead with a birdie on the third hole, Ochoa recaptured it with a birdie on the fourth, and the Norwegian birdied again at the fifth to tie it once more.
Ochoa took a two-stroke lead with birdies on the sixth and eighth, but a bogey at the 11th and Pettersons birdie at the 12th tied it again.
Ochoa took the lead for good with birdies at No. 15 and No. 16, calling her putt there one of the best of her career and denying Petterson her first LGPA Tour win since 2007.
I had a one-stroke lead over her after the 15th, she missed her putt and I knew that, with a birdie, I was going to take a two-stroke lead with two holes left to play, so I made the decision to go for it, Ochoa said. I had a good putt, a little bit soft, but it fell. … That was beautiful.
