Yani bidding for a Women’s British Open ‘three-peat’
THE RICOH Women’s British Open, the final Major of the season, begins today at Royal Liverpool with the 144-player line-up including 48 of the top 50 golfers on the 2012 LPGA moneylist competing for a $2,75-million prize fund.
World No 1 Yani Tseng from Taiwan is searching for a “threepeat” in the tournament, having won at Royal Birkdale in 2010 and Carnoustie in 2011. At last year’s event she shot a final round 69 for a four-stroke victory over Brittany Lang and became the youngest golfer in history, male or female, to win five Major titles at 22 years old.
Her game, though, hasn’t been at its best this year. Most recently, after two missed cuts, she finished 11th at the Safeway Classic and 35th at the Canadian Open. Nonetheless, she heads a list of more than 20 other Major winners in the field this week.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old amateur Lydia Ko is playing in just her second Major. And the question as to whether she can vie for the title is already becoming a hot topic. Ko is just a few weeks removed from becoming the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history when she captured the Canadian Open.
Ko, who also took home the 2012 US Women’s Amateur title this summer, has left a strong impression on the LPGA players who have witnessed her game in person. That includes world No2 Stacy Lewis of the US, who was paired with Ko in the final round in Vancouver. “I told my friends that that Sunday I got to play with her was one of the coolest days I’ve ever had on the golf course,” Lewis said. “I didn’t play well, but just to watch Lydia and the way she played that final round, it looked like she had been there before and knew what she was doing. I was beyond impressed.”
There are 83 bunkers at Royal Liverpool and the players have learned quickly that they are to be avoided at all costs.
“I’ve heard about how Tiger didn’t hit a single bunker when he won The Open here in 2006, and that’s definitely motivation for me not to go in a bunker,” said Michelle Wie.
But while there has been talk about the bunkers, the course’s greatest defence is the wind which the players – including the three South Africans in the field, LeeAnne Pace, Tandi Cuningham and Stacy-Lee Bregman – will have to cope with over the next four days.