ANZ Ladies Masters Friday: Wow! Smith Shoots 62 Down Under!

Kristie Smith fired a ten-under 62 to take the lead--at least for now--in the ANZ Ladies Masters at -9, 1 shot up on Katherine Hull, 2 shots up on Lee-Ann Pace and Ursula Wikstrom, 3 up on Ji-Yai Shin, and 4 up on Alison Walshe. But don't look now--the JLPGA's own Nikki Campbell is -4 in her first 6 holes to pull within 2 of the lead and the KLPGA's sophomore sensation So Yeon Ryu is -4 over her first 12 to get within 4. More as the afternoon groups come in!

[Update 1 (3:39 am): Campbell did it! Her 65 vaulted her 1 shot ahead of Smith. Here are the leaders and notables:

1st/-10 Nikki Campbell (69-65)
2nd/-9 Kristie Smith (73-62)
3rd/-8 Katherine Hull (69-67)
T4/-7 Ursula Wikstrom (68-69), Lee-Ann Pace (67-70)
T6/-6 Ji-Yai Shin (69-69), Rebecca Flood (69-69)
T8/-5 So Yeon Ryu (71-68), Alison Walshe (69-70), Carmen Alonso (68-71), Marianne Skarpnord (67-72)

T12/-4 Beatriz Recari (73-67), Aram Cho (72-68), Samantha Head (70-70), Mollie Fankhauser (70-70), Frances Bondad (70-70), Becky Brewerton (67-73)
T20/-3 Sarah Kemp (73-68), Hee Kyung Seo (72-69), Stephanie Na (72-69), Ai Miyazato (71-70), Lindsey Wright (71-70), Anna Rawson (71-70), Tamie Durdin (70-71), Haeji Kang (69-72), Beth Allen (69-72), Il-Hee Lee (67-74)
T32/-2 Titiya Plucksataporn (74-68), Smriti Mehra (73-69), Nikki Garrett (72-70), Sarah Oh (70-72), Gwladys Nocera (69-73)
T39/-1 Nina Reis (75-68), Melissa Reid (74-69), Lorie Kane (71-72), Ya Ni Tseng (71-72), Bo Bae Park (71-72), Karrie Webb (70-73), Rachel Hetherington (70-73),
T50/E Tania Elosegui (74-70), Linda Wessberg (72-72), Anne-Lise Caudal (72-72), He Yong Choi (70-74)
T57/+1 Trish Johnson (75-70), Wendy Doolan (73-73), Sarah-Jane Smith (73-72), Diana D'Alessio (72-73)
T63/+2 Laura Davies (79-67), Bettina Hauert (76-70), Beth Bader (73-73), Rebecca Hudson (72-74), Christel Boeljon (72-74), Lotta Wahlin (71-75)

T77/+3 Brandie Burton (78-69), Yuki Sakurai (73-74)
T87/+4 Michelle Ellis (75-73), Martina Eberl (74-74), Rebecca Coakley (74-74)
T97/+5 Chie Arimura (77-72)
T103/+6 Sunny Park (78-72), Emma Zackrisson (78-72)
T119/+8 Lisa Hall (78-74), Riko Higashio (75-77), Maria Verchenova (74-78)
T134/+11 Kiran Matharu (76-79)

Nice charge by Burton, but not as successful as those by Davies and Hauert. Wonder when Tseng will start feeling better enough to play the kind of golf she's capable of. Would also be nice to see the vets Webb, Hetherington, and Kane make a move. Very nice to see Miyazato, Wright, and Rawson shoot 2 straight under-par rounds. Let's see if they can go low on moving day. I expect to see Hull, Shin, and Walshe at the top of the leaderboard tomorrow. Just a feeling.

Here's the LET's feature on Smith's round.]

[Update 2 (3:48 am): Real roller-coaster round for Ai-chan: -3 through 12 and playing great, but then gets on a bogey train for 3 holes and finishes with 2 birdies in a row. Yeesh! Good to see she's averaging 4.5 birdies per round--I think it bodes well for the weekend. A bogey on the par-5 9th cost Sakurai a chance to play on the weekend. Ouch!]

[Update 3 (3:55 am): You think the Aussie media is happy about the leaderboard? Let's see--yup!]

[Update 4 (4:00 am): Here are the post-round interviews.]

SBS Open Field Posted to Little Fanfare at LPGA.com

So who's playing in the SBS Open to kick off the 2009 LPGA season instead of continuing the ALPG/LET's Down Under swing? Let's put it this way: with #230 on the priority list Haeji Kang the 1st alternate, only 15 players won't have a chance to tee it up next Thursday (unless we get some late WDs).

I wonder if Kang and 2nd alternate Tania Elosegui will decide to stay in Australia like Karrie Webb, Laura Davies, Katherine Hull, Sarah Kemp, Diana D'Alessio, and Smriti Mehra, or if they'll join Ji-Yai Shin, Ya Ni Tseng, Ai Miyazato, Wendy Doolan, Lorie Kane, Linda Wessberg, Anna Rawson, Sarah Jane Smith (formerly Kenyon), Beth Bader, Mollie Fankhauser, and sponsor exemption Hee Kyung Seo (Ha Neul Kim is the other--SBS is a Korean company, after all) on the flight to Hawaii. (Actually, Fankhauser is registered for both events, so she'll have a choice to make, too. Hope she lets Kang know her plans soon!) I guess Ashleigh Simon's back problems are pretty serious--she WDed from both the ANZ Ladies Masters and Women's Australian Open and isn't listed in the SBS field, either. Nor is Inbee Park, who pulled out of the Australian Swing herself.

Everyone else is either coming off the SunCoast Series--including 2-time winner Johanna Mundy (formerly Head)--or starting from scratch. Look for my preview next week!

[Update 1 (5:02 am): Going through my actual and projected top 30s, I noticed that a number of top players are making like Lorena Ochoa and skipping Hawaii, such as Seon Hwa Lee, Mi Hyun Kim, Jeong Jang, Song-Hee Kim, Ji Young Oh, Helen Alfredsson, and Karen Stupples. Would love to hear why!]

[Update 2 (11:49 am): Yes, it's great news about the Phoenix event, but can't the LPGA walk and chew gum at the same time?]

ANZ Ladies Masters Thursday: Big Names Lurking

Becky Brewerton and Marianne Skarpnord of the LET and Il-Hee Lee of the KLPGA opened the ANZ Ladies Masters with a trio of 5-under-par 67s, opening a 1-shot lead on Ursula Wikstrom, Carmen Alonso, Hye Youn Kim, Stacy Bregman, and Lee-Ann Pace (who still has the 18th left to play), but some of the biggest names in the field are lurking between 2 and 5 shots back. Here's a quick breakdown of how the more recognizable players have done or are doing today:

In the Hunt
T9/-3 Ji-Yai Shin, Katherine Hull, Gwladys Nocera, Alison Walshe, Haeji Kang, Nikki Campbell, Beth Allen (69)
T18/-2 Karrie Webb, Rachel Hetherington, He Yong Choi, Sarah Oh, Samantha Head, Tamie Durdin, Mollie Fankhauser, Frances Bondad (70)
T30/-1 Lorie Kane, Ya Ni Tseng, Ai Miyazato, So Yeon Ryu, Anna Rawson, Lotta Wahlin, Lindsey Wright, Bo Bae Park (71)
T47/E Hee Kyung Seo, Rebecca Hudson, Linda Wessberg, Diana D'Alessio, Nikki Garrett, Anne-Lise Caudal, Christel Boeljon, Aram Cho, Stephanie Na (72)

Near the Cut Line
T64/+1 Wendy Doolan, Beth Bader, Sarah Kemp, Sarah-Jane Smith (formerly Kenyon), Beatriz Recari, Yuki Sakurai, Smriti Mehra (73)
T77/+2 Martina Eberl, Melissa Reid, Tania Elosegui, Rebecca Coakley, Titiya Plucksataporn, Maria Verchenova (74)
T93/+3 Michelle Ellis, Trish Johnson, Nina Reis, Riko Higashio (75)

Need a Miracle
T107/+4 Bettina Hauert, Kiran Matharu (76)
T116/+5 Chie Arimura (77)
T128/+6 Brandie Burton, Lisa Hall, Sunny Park, Emma Zackrisson (78)
T139/+7 Laura Davies (79)

I'll be back with more when everyone's done!

[Update 1 (3:27 am): South Africa's Lee-Ann Pace and Korea's Aram Cho both birdied 18 to move to -5 and E, respectively, while Na and Matharu parred out. I've changed the results above to reflect these results. The early interviews with the leaders and Karrie Webb are quite good. Brewerton came back from a mid-round double bogey and credits her work in the gym and in her head with her improved play. Another look at the field list reveals that Ashleigh Simon and Becky Morgan were late WDs (and that the LPGA's H.J. Choi was never in the field--I confused the '08 KLPGA Rookie of the Year He Yong Choi with her in my preview). More on specific rounds soon.]

[Update 2 (3:47 am): A few scorecards of interest include Hull's (she made 3 birdies in a row as she made the turn and birdied her final hole to offset an intervening bogey), Walshe's (she was +2 through her 1st 4 holes after back-to-back bogeys, but made 5 birdies in her last 14), Kang's (she bounced back from her lone bogey of the day on the back with back-to-back birdies), Tseng's (she was the opposite story, starting off -2 through 5, but could only manage 12 pars and a bogey the rest of the way), Miyazato's (she had quite the roller-coaster round, including back-to-back bogeys as she made the turn to fall back to E and 2 birdies in her last 4 holes to offset her bogey on the short par-4 8th), and Recari's (she bogeyed 3 holes in a row and 4 of her 1st 7, but turned it around with 4 birdies and only 1 bogey in her last 11.]

[Update 3 (3:51 am): The Australian media are pretty quick to post their stories, aren't they? And their photo galleries!]

[Update 4 (3:59 am): Leave it to Happy Fan on the Seoul Sisters discussion board to find a pre-tournament article that details Tseng's food poisoning and Simon's back soreness!]

[Update 5 (4:40 am): Here's the LET's story.]

It's Official: Blumenherst Chooses the Lewis Track

Beth Ann Baldry reports that Amanda Blumenherst has turned down the invitation--also extended to Tiffany Joh, Azahara Munoz, Candace Schepperle, and Alexis Thompson--into the LPGA's first major of 2009, the Kraft Nabisco Invitational. She's going to try to make the LPGA by turning pro after graduation and winning or earning enough in her 6 sponsor-exemption starts to bypass Q-School. Seeing as how she already had her KNC experience last season (she was low amateur), I can't fault her for her decision. It'll be interesting to see whether Tiffany Joh follows suit.

ANZ Ladies Masters Preview

The LET had finally updated their field list to include the 11 invitees and the 55 ALPG, 18 KLPGA, 4 JLPGA, and 7 amateur players in the field in addition to their own 55. Let's dig a little deeper than their preview, shall we?

I'll be very curious to see how sharp Ya Ni Tseng and Ji-Yai Shin are in their 1st tournament of 2009, as well as how they deal with the higher expectations and greater pressure that come from being ranked in the top 5 in the world of women's golf at the start of the season. If someone as mentally tough as Ai Miyazato has found the leap to the world stage quite a challenge, I'm particularly interested in seeing how they'll stack up against her this week. We've already seen Australian phenom Sarah Oh crack under Sunday pressure (and tough winds) last week on the ALPG, falling to a more experienced Gwladys Nocera and behind a more seasoned Katherine Hull while failing to win her 2nd consecutive event on tour this season. I think Tseng and Shin are far better than Nocera and Hull, but never discount the vagaries of youth.

Speaking of Hull, I'll also be very interested in seeing how she--not to mention all the other up-and-coming Aussies in the field, but particularly the LPGAers in it--plays with living legend Karrie Webb on the premises. It's a similar anticipation as wondering how Bo Bea Park, who played well last week, will do with not only Shin but also Hee Kyung Seo (6-time KLPGA winner in '08), So Yeon Ryu ('08 KLPGA ROY runner-up), and the LPGA's H.J. Choi in the field. Or how Japanese young guns Chie Arimura, Riko Higashio, and Yuki Sakurai will handle themselves in Miyazato's presence. Or how defending champion Lisa Hall, Melissa Reid, and Rebecca Hudson will do with Laura Davies in the field.

Then there are players more known for their buzz than their accomplishments, such as Anna Rawson, Ashleigh Simon, and Kiran Matharu. The former 2 seem poised to live up to their own high expectations, while the latter seems stuck in neutral. And there are players looking to make up for Q-School disappointments, like Alison Walshe, Becky Brewerton, Beatriz Recari, and Stephanie Na, as well as vets looking to jump-start their engines such as Davies, Lorie Kane, Rachel Hetherington, and Brandie Burton.

Finally, I'll be curious to see how the LPGAers in the field--especially those playing their first tournament of the season--stack up against those from the JLPGA, KLPGA, LET, and ALPG. The next two weeks in Australia will be a kind of mini-preview of the HSBC Women's World Champions. Somehow Sisters of Swing, the ALPG's moniker for this week's event, doesn't have quite the same ring as the Showdown in Singapore, but for early February, it's not half bad.

[Update 1 (7:07 pm): Here are the pairings! Ai-chan is paired with Laura Davies and Brandie Burton in the afternoon groups going off #10, followed by Ji-Yai Shin with Katherine Hull and Anne-Lise Caudal. #10 is the place to be in the morning, too, as Karrie Webb heads out with Martina Eberl and Lisa Hall, followed by Ya Ni Tseng, Gwladys Nocera, and Rachel Hetherington. Watch out for So Yeon Ryu going off early and Alison Walshe going off late.]

[Update 2 (2/4/09, 2:20 pm): Here are Bruce Young's 2 previews, based on pre-tournament interviews. Highlights: Webb hasn't played much b/c of rains in the north of Australia and hasn't added up a score since the ADT last November; Shin's been in Australia the last 3 weeks; the reason for Lindsey Wright's fall-off last season after a hot start was a shoulder injury she sustained in May; Hall and Nocera have no interest in playing on the LPGA.]

[Update 3 (5:10 pm): Is it just me, or are the oddsmakers discounting Tseng's chances a tad? And why is Walshe 125-1? That's just ridiculous.]

[Update 4 (5:18 pm): Here's the live scoring link. Play is underway--it's already the 5th down under!]