The Korea Herald

Park admits world No. 1 up for grabs

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― Park In-bee admitted she was resigned to the prospect of losing the world’s top ranking with Suzann Pettersen breathing down her neck at this week’s HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.The South Korean starlet swept three major titles in 2013 and she made a fast start to her season last week in Thailand, carding six-under 66 on Sunday to finish second.But Park, 25, said she expected a shift in the rankings with Norway’s Pettersen capable of catching her this week, and defending

Feb. 26, 2014

Golfer Park In-bee retains world's top spot for 46th week

South Korea's Park In-bee has held the top post in the women's world golf rankings for the 46th consecutive week.In the latest Rolex Rankings announced Tuesday, the 26-year-old solidified her top spot after getting an average of 10.3 ranking points.Suzann Pettersen of Norway, who competed for the money title against Park in the Honda LPGA Thailand of 2014 on Sunday, ranked second with 9.54 points, followed by Stacy Lewis of the United States with 8.70.Anna Nordqvist, who had claimed the latest L

Feb. 25, 2014

Els reaches semifinals

MARANA, Arizona (AP) ― The love-hate relationship Ernie Els has with the Match Play Championship is taking a major turn for the better.Els made a birdie from the desert on the par-5 eighth hole to take the lead for good Saturday against 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, reaching the semifinals in this fickle tournament for the first time in 13 years.It was the first time all week that Els made more birdies than bogeys, yet he somehow has survived.“At times I haven’t played my best, as you guys have wel

Feb. 23, 2014

Lee Min-jee wins Women’s Victorian Open

MELBOURNE (AP) ― Seventeen-year-old amateur Lee Min-jee shot a final-round 68 Sunday to win the Women’s Victorian Open by six shots, claiming her first victory in a professional event.Lee, who started the day three shots clear of fellow Australian Sarah-Jane Smith, had eight birdies to finish at 16-under 279 at the Thirteenth Beach links course. Scotland’s Vicky Laing shot a 66 to finish second at 10-under 285 and Smith was third at 8-under 287.Lee, the reigning Australian amateur champion, has

Feb. 23, 2014

McDowell makes another escape in Match Play

MARANA, Arizona (AP) ― Getting to the round of 16 in the Match Play Championship was all that mattered Thursday. Jordan Spieth made it look like child‘s play. Graeme McDowell aged another 10 years with another stunning escape. And it proved too difficult for Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, who lost in extra holes on another wild day at Dove Mountain. “I thought I was dead and buried both days,” McDowell said. One day after he rallied from 3 down with three holes to play to win in o

Feb. 21, 2014

Park faces battle to stay world No. 1

PATTAYA, Thailand (AFP) ― World No. 1 Park In-bee is under severe threat of losing the top ranking as she makes a delayed start to the season with her LPGA Thailand title defense from Thursday.The South Korean has held the top spot for 45 weeks, but her formerly healthy lead has been whittled away by Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and could disappear altogether in Pattaya.Pettersen missed a great opportunity to overhaul Park last week when, needing a strong finish at the Women’s Australian Open, she

Feb. 19, 2014

Bubba Watson ends 2-year winless drought at Riviera

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Bubba Watson wasn’t about to let another chance get away.Two weeks after Watson made a pair of late bogeys in the Phoenix Open, he delivered the best closing round at Riviera in some three decades. Watson played the final 39 holes without a bogey and shot a 7-under 64 on Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open.It was his first victory in 22 months and 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2012 Masters.Watson wound up with a two-shot victory over Dustin Johnson, who closed with

Feb. 17, 2014

Bubba Watson ends 2-year winless drought at Riviera

Karrie Webb wins Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Karrie Webb won the Women’s Australian Open for the fifth time Sunday, shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round to beat Chella Choi by one stroke.Webb birdied the 18th hole to take the outright lead, then watched as Choi, who shot a course-record 62 on Saturday to take a share of the third-round lead, pushed a 10-foot putt wide of the hole at 18 to miss the chance for a playoff.Webb, who clinched her 40th LPGA title, finished at 12-under 276 overall. She previously w

Feb. 16, 2014

Veteran Couples still relevant at Riviera

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Fred Couples doesn’t talk in circles, but that’s generally the path of his conversation.He can talk about Justin Bieber and Blake Griffin one minute, switch over to the redo of the fifth green at Riviera the next minute, and then wonder why the Champions Tour gets to play Pebble Beach during the prime part of the season.The 54-year-old Couples went silent when talking about his 32nd appearance at the Northern Trust Open, where he will play the opening two rounds with Webb Simp

Feb. 13, 2014

Watson focused on games, not names in Ryder Cup

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― This is what Tom Watson knows about the American with a big lead in the Ryder Cup standings.Jimmy Walker is 35.He already has three PGA Tour wins this year. And his hobby is creating photographs of the galaxy.“The first book I read was, ‘All About Astronomy,’” Watson said. “If he makes the Ryder Cup team, maybe we’ll have some common things to talk about.”Watson was at Riviera on Tuesday, even though he is playing this week on the other side of the country in a Champions Tour

Feb. 12, 2014

Walker hangs on to win at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, California (AP) ― The finish wasn’t what Jimmy Walker wanted. The result is what he’s come to expect.Walker led by as many as six shots Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, only for it to be decided by his final putt. He ran his birdie attempt 5 feet by the hole, and had to make that for par to close with a 2-over 74 and a one-shot win over Dustin Johnson and Jim Renner.“It’s drama, man,” Walker said on the 18th green. “It was too much for me.”But it was a familiar outc

Feb. 10, 2014

Coetzee claims first Euro title

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ― George Coetzee came from four shots back to win the Joburg Open, his first European Tour title, and a place at the British Open on a profitable Sunday for the South African.Coetzee’s final-round 6-under 66, with six birdies and no bogeys, took him to 19-under 268 overall and past compatriots Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters, the overnight co-leaders.The 27-year-old Coetzee was flawless on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to clinch his maiden title

Feb. 10, 2014

Walker in control at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, California (AP) ― Jimmy Walker had a hot hand in the cold wind Saturday and built a six-shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.Walker made his first bogey of the tournament, and that hardly slowed him. He countered with five birdies in 30 mph gusts at Monterey Peninsula for a 4-under 67, leaving him on the verge of his third PGA Tour victory this season.He was at 13-under 202.Tim Wilkinson of New Zealand had a 69 and Hunter Mahan had a 72, both at Monterey Peninsula. Th

Feb. 9, 2014

Woods to skip WGC Match Play

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Tiger Woods made it official on Thursday, confirming on his website that he’ll skip the WGC Match Play Championship this month.The world number one announced that his next tournament will be the U.S. PGA Tour‘s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Feb. 27-March 2.After that he’ll play the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship at Doral near Miami, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando ― in both of which he is the defending champion.The WGC

Feb. 7, 2014

Molinari in 4-way tie for early lead at Joburg Open

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ― Edoardo Molinari was in a four-way tie for the first-round lead at the European Tour’s Joburg Open with his 7-under-par 64 on Thursday. The Italian, chasing a British Open place as well as his first title in four years, was joined by Scottish pair Alastair Forsyth and Craig Lee and South African Justin Walters. A 2010 Ryder Cup winner, Molinari opened with three straight birdies at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington and collected eight in all on the par-71 West Course. “The fr

Feb. 7, 2014

Kevin Stadler wins Phoenix Open

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (AP) ― Kevin Stadler won the Phoenix Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title when playing partner Bubba Watson missed a 5-footer for par on the final hole.Stadler, the 33-year-old son of PGA Tour winner Craig Stadler, closed with a 3-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Watson and Canadian Graham DeLaet.Stadler won in his 239th PGA Tour start, earning a spot in the Masters ― a tournament his father won in 1982. The Stadlers are the ninth father-son winners in tour histo

Feb. 3, 2014

Stallings rallies to win at Torrey

SAN DIEGO (AP) ― In a tournament that was up for grabs, Scott Stallings hit a 4-iron worthy of a winner Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open.Stallings was in a five-way tie for the lead when he hit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole as hard as he could. It was enough to barely clear the water, and he took two putts from 40 feet for birdie and a 4-under 68 at Torrey Pines.That was enough for a one-shot victory when no one could catch him.It was the third career PGA Tour victory for Stallings,

Jan. 27, 2014

Korda nabs Bahamas LPGA win

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) ― Jessica Korda won the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic on Sunday for her second tour title, holing a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Stacy Lewis by a stroke.The 20-year-old Korda closed with a 7-under 66 for a 19-under 273 total on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course. Lewis parred the final four holes ― two of them par 5s ― for a 66.Korda tied Lewis for the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, then got up-and-down for birdie on the pa

Jan. 27, 2014

Choi leads in Bahamas

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) ― Choi Na-yeon shot a 7-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic, chipping to a foot to set up a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.The seventh-ranked Choi, a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour, birdied three of the last four holes in her bogey-free round to reach 15 under on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course.“I think the last three rounds I had a really good swing,” Choi said. “I had so many good shots. But I still have

Jan. 26, 2014

Cink on song at Torrey Pines

LA JOLLA, California (AFP) ― Stewart Cink fired an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday to seize the lead in the Farmers Insurance Open as Tiger Woods launched his 2014 season with a first-round 72.Cink, seeking his first win since his 2009 British Open triumph, played without a bogey on the Torrey Pines North Course, the easier of the two layouts in use for the tournament.He had a one-shot lead over fellow American Gary Woodland, whose 65 on the North Course included an eagle and five birdies.Australians

Jan. 24, 2014