Saturday, August 8, 2009

Around the World of Women's Golf in 18 Easy Links

Just because the LPGA's on vacation doesn't mean the world of women's golf has gone quiet. Of course we have a great showdown shaping up on the JLPGA between the likes of Sakura Yokomine, Ji-Yai Shin, Momoko Ueda, Shiho Oyama, and Ji-Hee Lee, among others. And there's a little national championship known as the U.S. Women's Amateur going on. But that's not all--not nearly!

Amy Yang and Katherine Hull seem to have remembered how to go low while playing on the LET this week. Yang takes a 2-shot lead on Hull into the weekend and stands at -11 after making 6 birdies, a pair of eagles, a double, and a bogey in her 2nd round. Lurking 4 shots back are Anna Nordqvist, Ashleigh Simon, and Becky Brewerton--although Nordqvist just birdied her 1st hole to get to -8. Yang is shooting for her 4th career LET win; she tees off in a few minutes.

The Futures Tour is in Kentucky this week. After the 1st round, Jane Chin and Gerina Mendoza share the lead at -5, but with Mina Harigae, Amanda Blumenherst, Maria Hernandez, and Su A Kim, among others, only 1 shot back, they can't rest easy heading into the weekend.

On an even less epic scale, Jeanne Cho-Hunicke won on the SunCoast Ladies Series.

Meanwhile, In-Kyung Kim and Hee Young Park are in Korea, encouraging more girls to play golf. And the KLPGA has revamped their website, which allowed Happy Fan to dig up their 2009 season stats just in time for them to resume action next week as their long summer vacation comes to a close. So Yeon Ryu has a slim lead on the money list over Hee Kyung Seo but trails her in the Player of the Year race. Sun Ju Ahn has the lowest scoring average on tour (70.68). Many thanks to Happy Fan and the regulars at Seoul Sisters.com's discussion boardsfor reminding me of many of these events and stories!

[Update 1 (8/9/09, 12:09 am): Wow, is the Futures Tour leaderboard ever packed! Mina Harigae jumped to a 3-shot lead over Amanda Blumenherst and Gerina Mendoza with a 66 yesterday, while a 66 by Hannah Yun and 67 by Jean Reynolds brought them into the top 10.]

[Update 2 (12:33 am): Yang's 71 got her to -12, but nobody close to her could take advantage: Hull shot 75, Nordqvist 77, and Simon 78 to drop well off the pace. Now it's non-Solheim Cupper Karen Stupples within 2 of Yang heading into the final round after her 66. It's good to see Julieta Granada under par in Wales. She could get a top 5 if she plays well later today.]

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