McIlroy to headline field at Korea Open

Former No. 1-ranked golfer Rory McIlroy will headline the field at South Korea’s national golf championship this week.The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland will compete at the 56th Kolon Korea Open scheduled to begin Thursday at Woojeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. This will be the third Korea Open appearance for McIlroy, who tied for third in 2009 and finished second in 2011.At the pre-tournament press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday, McIlroy said his woes thi

Oct. 15, 2013

Top female golfers to duel for honors in only LPGA stop in Korea

The world’s top two-ranked female golfers will take their battle for season-end honors to South Korea this week, as the LPGA Tour makes its only annual stop in the country in the season’s final stretch.The Ocean Course at Sky72 Golf Club, near Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, will host the LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship starting Friday. The 54-hole competition will have a $1.9 million purse.This is the sixth year that the Ocean Course will stage the LPGA tourney, which started out i

Oct. 14, 2013

Seven-way tie for lead in Portugal Masters

VILAMOURA, Portugal (AP) ― Alviro Quiros’ knowhow of his home course was of little advantage as six others tied the 2008 champion for the lead after the first round of the Portugal Masters on Thursday. All seven scored 6-under 65, four of them finishing their rounds with birdies on their last holes at Oceanico Victoria Golf Course. Nine other players shot 66. In all, 68 players, more than half of the field, went under par in ideal conditions. Jamie Donaldson of Wales had the lead at 7 under unti

Oct. 11, 2013

Treble would be tops for Korea’s Choi

SEOUL (AFP) ― South Korean star Choi Kyung-ju Wednesday said he was hoping to become the first player to win the same Asian Tour event three times in a row at this week’s CJ Invitational.Choi, who hosts the event, won the inaugural edition in 2011 and defended his title last year. However, the eight-time PGA Tour winner is without a victory this season.“I’m eyeing a third win in this event but obviously it won’t be easy,” said Choi, ahead of the $750,000 event in Yeoju, South Korea.“No player ha

Oct. 9, 2013

Park In-bee opens Malaysian defense on confidence high

KUALA LUMPUR (AP) ― World No.1 Park In-bee will have the Rolex Player of the Year rankings in mind when she opens her LPGA Malaysia title defense at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club on Thursday.The 25-year-old Park recovered from a recent dip in form by finishing third at the Reignwood Classic in Beijing last weekend. Park marked the first half of the season with six wins including three majors. What followed was a frustrating period from July when she found it hard to even record a top-10 finis

Oct. 9, 2013

U.S. hangs on to take Presidents Cup lead

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) ― The Americans survived a late rally Thursday and put the International team in a familiar hole at the Presidents CupSteve Stricker blasted out of a plugged lie in the face of a bunker to 3 feet to save par as he and 20-year-old Jordan Spieth hung on for a 1-up win in the final match on the course at Muirfield Village. That win gave the Americans a 3 1/2-2 1/2 lead, the fourth straight time they have led after the opening session in the Presidents Cup.The Presidents Cup at lea

Oct. 4, 2013

Park seeks to regain winning form

BEIJING (AP) ― South Korea’s Park In-bee will seek to regain her dominant form with a strong showing at the inaugural Reignwood LPGA Classic in Beijing. Park, the world No. 1, is being joined by third-ranked American Stacy Lewis at the tournament, which begins Thursday. Park swept the first three major championships of the season, and has added three other U.S. LPGA Tour wins this year. However, she finished well out of contention at the British Open and last month’s Evian Championship, failing

Oct. 2, 2013

Choi, Bae among Asian stars for World Cup

MELBOURNE (AP) ― Eight-time PGA Tour winner Choi Kyung-ju and Bae Sang-moon will represent South Korea at the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne, with Liang Wenchong and Wu Ashun set to play for China in the Nov. 21-24 tournament.World Cup organizers said that Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat will be joined by India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri and the Philippines’ Angelo Que and Juvic Pagunsan.Previously announced for the tournament were Graeme McDowell of Northe

Sept. 29, 2013

Oliver Wilson in share of Alfred Dunhill lead

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) ― Former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson boosted his chances of regaining his European Tour card by carding an 8-under 64 Thursday to sit in a five-way tie for the lead after the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Wilson made the most of his sponsor’s invitation by making one eagle and six birdies in bright but windy conditions on Kingsbarns. Fellow Englishmen Tom Lewis and Richard McEvoy also shot a 64, along with Chile’s Mark Tullo and Frenchman Ale

Sept. 27, 2013

Grace Park to play final event on home soil

LPGA Tour veteran Grace Park will play her final professional tournament on her native soil next month, the event’s organizers said Thursday.Organizers of the LPGA KEB·HanaBank Championship, set for Oct. 18-20 in South Korea, said Park, whose Korean name is Ji-eun, will briefly come out of retirement to play one last time before home fans. She will be playing on a special invitation, organizers said.The $1.9 million tournament, which is the only LPGA Tour event held in South Korea each fall, wil

Sept. 26, 2013

Suzann Pettersen captures Evian

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) ― Suzann Pettersen barely had time to hug her caddie before the champagne started flowing in her direction.In the first women’s major played in Europe, Pettersen beat teenage star Lydia Ko of New Zealand by two shots to win the Evian Championship on Sunday and clinch the second major title of her career.The Norwegian calmly rolled in her par putt to seal the title. Pettersen then leaned back and held her head in her hands, hugged her caddie and laughed as she was sur

Sept. 16, 2013

Noh Seung-yul secures PGA card

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ― South Korea’s Noh Seung-yul won the third of four Web.com Tour Finals series events Sunday to wrap up a PGA Tour card.The 22-year-old Noh closed with a 2-under 69 for a five-stroke victory in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He finished at 12-under 272 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course and earned $180,000 to take the series lead with $210,125.“I got started pretty solidly today and then I made a bogey on the third hole and I had just a one-shot lead after four

Sept. 16, 2013