LPGA: Karrie Webb Holds Off All Challengers at Women’s Champions
Karrie Webb holds lead at HSBC Women’s Champions, Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
Carding six birdies and three bogeys, Aussie Karrie Webb ended the second round at the HSBC Women’s Champions at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore by stretching her overall lead to three strokes. With 36 holes remaining, Webb has the advantage but she certainly doesn’t have the tournament in hand yet. American Angela Stanford, at -7, trails Webb by two strokes. Taiwan’s Teresa Lu carded a 2-under 70 and is in solo third at 6-under par and a quintet of five players trail by five strokes and are in a tie for the fourth slot on the board: Americans Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, and Danielle Kang and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall.
For Hedwall, Deja Vu
Caroline Hedwall, who went into the second round in a 2nd place tie and was playing an especially powerful game. She was trailing Webb by two shots at the turn. Webb dropped a shot on 13 and Hedwall found herself within striking distance of the top of the board. Webb dropped another shot on 15 and Hedwall was sharing the lead.
Did Hedwall allow herself at that point, with only three holes remaining in the round, to drift back to the the opportunity she lost at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open?
Caroline Hedwall. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Rolex Ranked 7th Karrie Webb gathered herself and dug deep, carding par, birdie, par to end her round. Hedwall, who’s Rolex Ranked 23rd, struggled with the final three holes.
As Webb reclaimed a shot and got to -9, Hedwall gave back four shots in three holes and limped off the 18th green trailing Webb by five strokes.
"I felt really good about my game today it is just sad that I finished that way with two three putts and then this finish on 18 . . .Caroline Hedwall"
But there’s still the weekend.
The Top-Ranked Players
Second ranked Suzann Pettersen had the best round among the top-ranked players. Pettersen eagled the par-5 18 and carded 70, putting her at -3 for the tournament and going into the weekend with a share of 9th place on the board. She trails Webb’s lead by seven strokes, as does Rolex Ranked No. 8 Na Yeon Choi.
Suzann Pettersen. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Seven strokes is a large distance to travel, but Pettersen has the game to do it. Even with five bogeys on her second round card, Pettersen cut her putts down from 30 to 28. Webb, with 26 putts, is still outplaying her. Let’s see if Pettersen can stay ahead of Inbee Park and narrow the distance to the top of the board in the third round.
World ranked number 1 Inbee Park plodded along without any big mistakes and carded even par for the round, keeping her at -2 going into the weekend. Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson, the youthful pair of rising stars on the LPGA Tour, will both start into the weekend alongside Park and trailing Webb’s lead by seven shots as will Rolex Ranked No. 5 So Yeon Ryu.
Women’s Champions defending champ Stacy Lewis struggled to shoot even par. Park did it by minimizing her mistakes. Rolex Ranked No. 3 Lewis did it by carding enough birdies to neutralize hers. But with her first round of 75, Lewis is going into the weekend at +3 and hopes for successfully defending her title are fading.
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Michelle Wie carded 71 and is going into the weekend at even par. Jessica Korda, with rounds of 75 and 79, just can’t seem to recapture the game she played in January. She’s going into the weekend at +10. The Singaporean amateur Amanda Tan will start the third round at +14 and still at the bottom of the leaderboard. Playing on the big stage is proving a challenge for Tan.
With Singapore 12-17 hours ahead of the continental United States, Golf Channel will provide third round coverage beginning at 10:30pm ET tonight, Friday, February 28. Take another nap! American Angela Stanford is playing a good game and chasing Karrie Webb hard and Caroline Hedwall is looking for redemption after her second round stumble.