Players continue to shine despite further delays from the weather
15 October 2011, Kuala Lumpur - One of the most consistent players on the LPGA Tour has had another fantastic day on the golf course, as World No 4 Na Yeon Choi showed her credentials for being a top contender in this year’s Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, by moving to the head of the field. Choi, who has nine top 10 finishes from her previous 17 starts this year, carded a 67 to take the lead in the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 2011 with 12 under par.
Choi played a solid round, with five birdies on 3, 9, 10, 15 and 16 and just one bogey on the 5th to come into the clubhouse at the front of the pack. Choi showed her cool head and patience after another afternoon of rain delays stopped play for over three hours today. The 23 year-old South-Korean had her shot of the day on the par 3 15th hole, where she almost shot a hole-in-one putting the ball just inches from the hole.
Speaking from the official Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia press conference just moments after putting in the 18th hole, the day four leader said,
“I think I have a good feel about my game lately. I played good last week, but she (Tseng) played better than me. That's why I finished runner‑up. But I should be doing all right, and I have a great feeling.”
Choi commented on the rain delays stating,
“The delays, they bother me. I know I can't control the weather so I have to accept it. I mean really I am unable to change anything. I will just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Brittany Lang started her day with a bit of a stutter, bogeying the 5th and the 8th but came back to a storming back nine to birdie 13, 15, 16, and 18 and regain her spot towards the top of the leader board. The American is one shot behind Choi, after carding a 69 to finish the third day with a score of 11 under.
Currently in third place is Spanish golfer and 2010 ‘Rookie of the Year’, Azahara Munoz, who scored a commendable 68 to finish the day at 10 under, only two shots behind the day’s leader. Munoz hit five birdies on 2, 4, 6, 7 and 16 but could have surpassed Choi should she avoided the two bogeys on 9 and 11.
Talking after her round Munoz said,
“Today I started pretty good. I made four birdies in the first seven holes, but then I struggled a little bit. I made a good birdie on 16, so that kind of helped out. You know, we had a really good time. I really like them, these two (Tseng and Choi). We have a lot of players up on top of the leader board, so it should be interesting tomorrow.”
On her chances of claiming the title Munoz said,
“It's been a long time on the LPGA (Tour) since I was close on the leader board. I've been close in Europe, but not in the States. You know, I'm just really excited. I'm just going to go out there and try to enjoy it, one shot at a time.”
Further down the field Anna Nordquist and Se Ri Pak put in stellar rounds both scoring 65. Pak vaulted up the leader board to finish the day joint 4th and Nordquist moved from 51st on Friday to joint 15th at the end of play today. Starting on the 10th tee Nordquist hit five birdies on 10, 11, 13, 14 and 18 before following that up with a further three birdies on 2, 3 and 6 with only a double bogey on 9 to blemish her score card. Pak had a sensational back nine birdieing 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15 to go with her birdies on 4 and 7.
World number one Yani Tseng continued to make her presence known on the course today. Whilst not making the start to the day that she would have hoped for, bogeying three holes on the front nine and balancing that with two birdies, she made a good comeback on the back nine birdieing 10, 12, and 14 to finish the day with a score of 69, only four shots behind the leader and still very much in contention.
When asked if she thought she could make this her seventh title of the year Tseng said,
“I enjoy being out there with them (Choi and Munoz). I'm four shot back, so tomorrow I have to make the most of the final day. This is a great golf course. It's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow and I’ll try to make more putts and see how the day goes.”
The highest placed Malaysian, Kelly Tan scored a 74, her only mistakes being bogies on 2, 7 and 10, but no birdies in her round meant that she struggled to improve her placing.
When asked about her game today Tan said,
“I struggled today. I didn’t feel at home on the course and didn’t shoot any birdies. I started with a bogey, three bogeys throughout, so I didn’t play good.
“I think the rain delays affected my game. I sat down for two hours, and you lose a bit of focus. There is a lot of Malaysian food in the clubhouse so you find yourself eating at different times of the day than you’d planned.”
Everyone at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 2011 turned out in full support of today’s Pink Day, supporting breast cancer awareness. From the players, caddies, officials, organizers and spectators, the KLGCC were awash with pink attire and tournament signage’s in support of the tournament’s official charity, the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (CARIF).
In order to help further raise funds for CARIF, the annual Gala Dinner took place on Friday night with the star LPGA players donating some of their own golfing memorabilia to help raise funds for the official charity of the event. The most anticipated items were a signed set of gloves and pin flags from Cristie Kerr, a signed driver from Paula Creamer and the stand out performer of the evening was a singed driver from American Michelle Wie that was sold at auction for RM 100,000. This year’s Gala Dinner was a fantastic success and raised even more funds than the inaugural event last year.
The Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 2011 is due to tee off this Thursday at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. This year’s event features the top 62 LPGA members from the LPGA Tour Official Money List, along with 10 sponsors’ invites. The four-day stroke play event with no cut will ensure that players are in Kuala Lumpur for the tournament duration and the local and regional golf community can catch their favourite golfers in action the entire week.
