Cristie Kerr takes lead at Kingsmill

WILLIAMSBURG (AP) ― Cristie Kerr is already the only two-time winner of the Kingsmill Championship and a return to her old putter has her on a roll again. The LPGA Tour also veteran knows better than to put too much stock into what she did on a Saturday on tour.“There’s definitely no chickens to be counted,” Kerr said after making six birdies in a 5-under 66 that gave her a two-shot lead heading into Sunday. “You have to play a really good round tomorrow whether you’re two ahead or two behind.”S

May 5, 2013

Mickelson leads at Quail Hollow

CHARLOTTE (AP) ― Phil Mickelson’s ball was just above the edge of the cart path, slightly below his feet, when he decided to hit a hard fade around the trees toward the green. The shot went out-of-bounds and cost him the outright lead Saturday in the Wells Fargo Championship, and Mickelson was angry about his decision.He felt he should have hit driver instead of 3-wood.In the group ahead of him, new leader Nick Watney hit a semi-shank with a 6-iron on the par-3 17th, the ball flying toward a hos

May 5, 2013

17-year-old Jutanugarn leads LPGA at Kingsmill

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) ― Ariya Jutanugarn was in attack mode all day at the Kingsmill Championship ― and it paid off.The 17-year-old Thai player birdied six of the first seven holes Thursday and was 8 under after 14 holes thanks to a radar-like short iron game that left her with short putt after short putt.“Today, I made a lot of shots,” she said.She only missed a few, all on the par-3 17th when she pulled her tee shot to the left, chunked her downhill approach short of the green, putted fr

May 3, 2013

Park looks to keep hot streak going at Kingsmill

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) ― Park In-bee has never had much success on the River Course at Kingsmill.She’s also never tackled the layout along the James River as the world’s top-ranked female player.The 24-year-old South Korean will do that beginning Thursday, hoping to stay on the roll that has already produced three victories this season and completed her climb to the No. 1 ranking.It will be her first competitive rounds at the popular stop on tour since 2009, when for the second time in thre

May 2, 2013

Park cements No. 1 status

IRVING, Texas (AP) ― Park In-bee was already preparing to congratulate Carlota Ciganda for winning the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout.Park, the top-ranked woman in the world, was in the middle of a solid final round and still trailed by two strokes after the playing partners both had birdies at the par-5 10th.Everything changed in a two-hole stretch, when Park went ahead with consecutive pars. The 24-year-old South Korean went on to a bogey-free 4-under 67 that put her one stroke ahead of C

April 29, 2013

LPGA Tour makes first North Texas stop since ’91

IRVING, Texas (AP) ― Angela Stanford gets to experience a first in her 13 seasons on the LPGA Tour. She gets to stay at home and sleep in her own bed during a tournament.“It’s great to be home. I’m glad the LPGA is here. You know, I spend most of my time all year telling people how great it is here, so it’s nice to have the whole gang here,” said Stanford, who lives in nearby Fort Worth and went to school at TCU. “It was a little odd getting off the airplane from Hawaii ... like the whole tour w

April 25, 2013

Golfers focus on short game ahead of Ballantine’s

ICHEON (Yonhap News) ― Ahead of South Korea’s only European Tour golf tournament, key golfers on Wednesday emphasized the importance of the short game. Blackstone Golf Club in Icheon, about 100 kilometers southeast of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, will host the Ballantine’s Championship for four days starting Thursday. It’s the tournament’s sixth year in South Korea and third at the 7,281-yard layout.At No. 7 in the world, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa is the highest-ranked player in the field

April 24, 2013

McDowell wins in playoff at RBC Heritage

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) ― For all the big moments in Graeme McDowell’s career, his resume was short on PGA Tour victories.McDowell relished what he called his first authentic tour win, defeating fellow U.S. Open champ Webb Simpson in a playoff at the RBC Heritage on Sunday.McDowell’s been at the center of some of golf’s biggest moments, from his rousing triumph at Pebble Beach in 2010 to capturing the winning point for Europe in that year’s Ryder Cup matches. He has six European

April 22, 2013

Pettersen downs Salas in playoff for Lotte win

KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) ― Suzann Pettersen won the LPGA Lotte Championship on Saturday, beating Lizette Salas with a par on the first hole of a playoff after Salas chunked her approach shot into the water.Pettersen, the leader after the second and third rounds at Ko Olina, bogeyed the final hole of regulation to set up the playoff on the par-4 18th. The 32-year-old Norwegian closed with a 5-under 67, and Salas had a tournament-record 62 to finish at 19-under 269.“I thought 20 was going to do it,” P

April 21, 2013

Pettersen leads Miyazato at Lotte

KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) ― Suzann Pettersen rebounded from her lone bogey with three back-nine birdies Thursday at wind-swept Ko Olina to take the second-round lead in the LPGA Lotte Championship.The 32-year-old Norwegian, a 10-time LPGA Tour winner ranked sixth in the world, shot a 3-under 69 in her afternoon round to reach 10-under 134. She had consecutive victories late last season in South Korea and Taiwan and won a Ladies European Tour event last month in China.Defending champion Ai Miyazato wa

April 19, 2013

S. Korean golfer Park In-bee rises to No. 1 in women's world rankings

South Korean LPGA Tour star Park In-bee is the new world No. 1 in women's golf.Park moved up a spot to supplant Stacy Lewis of the U.S. as the top player in the latest women's rankings announced early Tuesday, Korean time. Park has an average of 9.28 ranking points, just 0.04 points ahead of Lewis, who had been No. 1 for the four previous weeks.Park, 24, is the second South Korean, after Shin Ji-yai in 2010, and the eighth player overall to reach No. 1 since the rankings were introduced in 2006

April 16, 2013

[Newsmaker] Scott first Aussie to win the Masters

Adam Scott ended Australia’s long wait for a Masters win on Sunday. Scott, 32, beat Angel Cabrera of Argentina at the second playoff hole of the 77th Masters to become the first Australian to win the tournament. He recorded a total of 9-under 279 for four rounds. It was also his first major title. He took home $1.44 million in prize money. Adams won by using a long putter for the first time in the event. He made successful birdie putts with it on the 18th hole in the fourth round and the 10th ho

April 15, 2013

Great Scott!

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) ― Adam Scott finished the job this time, and put an end to more than a half-century of Australian misery at the Masters.With the two biggest putts of his career, Scott holed a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th hole of regulation that put him into a playoff with Angel Cabrera, and then won his first major championship Sunday with a 12-footer for birdie on the second extra hole.Scott leaned back and thrust his arms in the air after the putt dropped on the 10th hole, a celebrat

April 15, 2013

The Masters not always kind to favorites

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) ― The first tee shot clattered through a pair of pines on the left side of the 13th fairway, finally landing on the wrong side of Rae’s Creek. Tiger Woods tried again, and this wasn’t any better. Fans peered across the fairway and only heard the ball rifle through some bushes.“He’s hitting another one,” a man announced from the gallery.The third shot with a fairway metal caused them to retreat until it turned with a slight draw, clipping a pine branch and settling in the se

April 11, 2013