Friday, September 4, 2009

Canadian Women's Open Friday: The Time Is Now for Lorena Ochoa to Make a Statement

After making her 4th birdie in her 1st 10 holes, Lorena Ochoa is tied for the lead with Song-Hee Kim and Suzann Pettersen at -9 in the Canadian Women's Open. She bogeyed the 1st hole on Thursday and hasn't looked back, making 10 birdies in a 27-hole-and-counting bogey-free run. This is the chance the world #1 has been looking for to make a statement to her closest challengers. Let's see if she can take advantage on the back.

[Update 1 (11:36 pm): Um, Lorena, the statement was not supposed to be, "Under construction"! That double right after getting to double digits under par? Not what the doctor ordered. Those 2 bogeys in your last 3 holes after erasing the double with back-to-back birdies? Even harder to swallow. Yeah, shooting a pair of 68s is great and all, but when you hit 32 of 36 greens and make 13 birdies, -8 and 1 shot back is not where you ought to be.]

[Update 2 (11:46 pm): So with Ochoa and Pettersen both settling for 68s, the door was open to join the hunt and, man, did the field respond. Catriona Matthew extended her bogey-free streak to 32 holes and counting, making 5 birdies in her last 12 to catch Ochoa. 2 off the lead are Angela Stanford (65), Sun Young Yoo (66), and M.J. Hur (67). Joining Janice Moodie 3 off the pace is Ya Ni Tseng (who's taken 63 putts around the Priddis Greens greens). And joining Ji-Yai Shin (65) and Sophie Gustafson (68) at -5 are In-Kyung Kim (68) and Karrie Webb (68). With Anna Rawson's 73 dropping her into a tie with Ai Miyazato (69) and Kristy McPherson (67) 5 back, the person who gets into the mid-60s or better twice this week is most likely to win. Moving day should be even more interesting than usual!]

[Update 3 (9/5/09, 12:00 am): Great notes and interviews from LPGA.com but the Japanese player who I recall made 6 birdies in a row on the European swing was Momoko Ueda at the Women's British Open, not Ai Miyazato at Evian.]

[Update 4 (11:14 am): Here's Hound Dog's 2nd-round overview.]

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