Tseng shot 73 in the final round, making three bogeys and two birdies.  After shooting three rounds of 68, Tseng had a …. shot lead heading into the final round.  After her final bogey at the 10th hole, Tseng settled down and finished with eight straight pars for the win.

Hull shot 66-70 over the weekend for her best finish of the 2010 LPGA season.  Na Yeon Choi and In-Kyung Kim tied for third place at seven-under par, four shots behind Tseng.  Cristie Kerr tied for fifth place with Amy Yang and Hee Kyung Seo at six-under par.  Morgan Pressel rebounded from a tough loss at last week’s Evian Masters to finish in eighth place at four-under par.  Ai Miyazato, Inbee Park, Christina Kim, Momoko Ueda and Brittany Lincicome tied for ninth place at two-under par, nine shots behind Tseng.

Top ranked Jiyai Shin tied for 14th place with Suzann Pettersen.  Michelle Wie finished tied for 17th with Paula Creamer tied for 21st.

Shin, who won the 2008 British Open, is joined by this season’s major champions Crisie Kerr, Yani Tseng and Paula Creamer, as well as defending champion Catriona Matthew.  Royal Birkdale hosted the 2005 Women’s British Open, where Jeong Jang won for the first time in her LPGA career.  Coming off a tie for eighth place at last week’s Evian Masters, Jang comes into the week looking for another victory.

Shin looks to distance herself in the Rolex Rankings with a win this week.  But, Ai Miyazato, Kerr and fourth ranked Suzann Pettersen are all favorites this week.  Kerr leads a strong group of American golfers, including Creamer and Morgan Pressel, that could be in the mix on Sunday.  Other players to watch this week are Michelle Wie, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome, In-Kyung Kim and Christina Kim.

Shin tied Pressel at 13-under par with a birdie on the 13th hole, as Pressel narrowly missed her birdie along the same line just before.  Both players made par over the next four holes to remain tied heading to the 18th hole.  With a playoff looming, Shin and Pressel walked to the 18th green with birdie putts.  Shin made hers and Pressel’s rolled over the hole but did not drop.

Pressel finished tied for second place with Na Yeon Choi and 15-year-old Alexis Thompson, who was playing on a sponsors exemption after turning professional in June.

Suzann Pettersen finished in fifth place at 12-under par, two shots behind Shin.  Mika Miyazato and Song-Hee Kim tied for sixth place, with Jeong Jang a shot behind them at eight-under par.  Yukari Baba and Yuri Fudoh round out the top 10 tied for ninth place at eight-under par.

Defending champion, and Rolex Ranking top player, Ai Miyazato finished tied for 19th place with Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie tying for 31st.  Paula Creamer, who won the U. S. Women’s Open a couple of weeks ago, finished tied for 37th at one-under par.

Mika only made one bogey in the second round while carding six birdies for a 67.  She is looking to follow her sisters, who is the defending champion, and make this her first LPGA victory.  But, with players like Morgan Pressel, Na Yeon Choi and Suzann Pettersen lurking, Mika has a long 36 holes to go for that first win.

Jeong Jang is in third place at seven-under par with Pressel, Choi, Meena Lee and M. J. Hur a shot behind in fourth place.  Pettersen is at five-under par, tied with Jiyai Shin, Sun-Ju Ahn, Kyeong Bae and Mi-Jeong Jeon for eighth place.

Pettersen is currently ranked third in the Rolex Rankings and Shin is fourth.  Both could top Ai Miyazato in the rankings with a win this week.  Ai is tied for 16th place at three-under par, six shots behind her sister, as is Yani Tseng and 15-year-old Alexis Thompson, who turned professional in June and finished 10th at this year’s U. S. Women’s Open.

Heading into this week’s Evian Masters, Ai Miyazato has re-took the top spot on the Rolex Rankings from Cristie Kerr but the mathematical difference is miniscual.  Miyazato leads with a 10.2656 average to Kerr’s 10.2650.  The rankings are so close that Jiyai Shin, the only other player to hold the number one spot since Ochoa, Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng and U. S. Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer are poised to make a move to the top.

Miyazato is the defending champion this week in France.  Her win last year was her first career LPGA victory and sparked a span where Miyazato has totaled five wins in 20 events, with seven top 10 finishes.  Kerr finished a shot behind Miyazato last year and is a strong favorite heading into the week.

Creamer, at the age of …, was starting to get the label of best player without a major.  She has struggled much of the last season and a half, primarily related to the thumb injury that was re-aggravated at the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand, the first LPGA event of 2010.  After undergoing surgery and missing most of this season, Creamer returned to finish seventh at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.  She tied for 42nd the next week at the LPGA Championship and missed the cut the following week at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

Creamer regrouped for the U. S. Women’s Open and, after shooting 72 in the first round, shot 70-70-69 to land the elusive major title.  In doing so, Creamer also moved up six spots on the Rolex Rankings to number seven.  In the year of new number one’s on the LPGA, Creamer has added her name to the mix as the top of the rankings are closer than ever.  Cristie Kerr still holds the top spot with Ai Miyazato, Suzann Pettersen, Jiyai Shin, Yani Tseng and Na Yeon Choi filling out the top six spots.  Anna Nordqvist, Song-Hee Kim and Karrie Webb round out the top 10.

The PGA heads to England for The Open Championship

Tiger Woods has continued his struggles in 2010 but will a trip overseas help get the PGA TOUR’s top player back in the winner’s circle?  Or, will Phil Mickelson finally overtake Woods atop the Official World Golf Rankings?

The top players in golf are at the Old Course in St. Andrews for The Open Championship, the PGA TOUR’s third major championship.  Woods is still the top player in the men’s game but the field has caught up.  Mickelson has missed a few chances this year to overtake Woods and become the number one ranked player this season and don’t expect that to change this week.  Mickelson has not played well at the British Open in the past while Woods has won three times at St. Andrews.  But, neither player may win as “the field” has outplayed both players this year.  Lee Westwood and Justin Rose are two of the hottest golfers in the game and would love to win their home country’s championship.  Steve Stricker is coming off a win last week at the John Deere Classic and Ernie Els, Jim Fuyrk and Ian Poulter could all be considered top contenders this week.

Major championships bring out the best players in golf and some that could steal headlines are Ryo Ishikawa, Rory McIlroy, Camilo Villegas, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan or PGA TOUR rookie Rickie Fowler.

Jiyai Shin is the top ranked player in Ohio this week, along with former Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic champion Paula Creamer, who won in 2008.   Morgan Pressel is in the field this week after losing in a playoff to Yi last year.  Other notables this week are Natalie Gulbis, Mika Miyazato, Brittany Lincicome, Angela Stanford and Christina Kim.

Highland Meadows Golf Club has hosted this tournament for fourteen years.  It is a traditional course with narrow fairways and small greens protected by bunkers.  The course plays to a par 71 measuring 6,428 yards.

The race for the top spot has been closer than ever since the retirement of Lorena Ochoa, who was only the second player to hold the number one spot after Annika Sorenstam retired.  The rankings started in 2006.  At the start of the LPGA Championship, any one of the top six players could have overtaken Miyazato with a win.  Miyazato had to finish in third place or better to retain the ranking she earned with her fourth win of the 2010 LPGA season at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

The new rankings can be viewed here.

Kerr finished the tournament with a birdie, her sixth of the day, to bring home her second career major championship.  She led from the start and, after breaking a tie in the second round, Kerr continued to extend her lead after each round.  It was a runaway tournament and a display of true golf from one of the best players in the game.

Kerr is one of the more consistent players on the LPGA.  She has finished with at least a win in each year, except 2003 where her best finish was second place, twice, since 2004.  She is currently ranked third on the Rolex Rankings behind Ai Miyazato and Jiyai Shin.  In nine events this year, Kerr has five top 10 finishes and is averaging 69.73 per round.

Song-Hee Kim won the battle for second place with a final round 69.  Kim finished the LPGA Championship at seven-under par.  Miyazato shot six-under par, 66, in the final round to get to five-under for the tournament and finish in third place with Shin.  In-Kyung Kim and Karrie Webb tied for fifth place.  Rounding out the top 10 were Morgan Pressel, Inbee Park, Meaghan Francella and Jimin Kang, who tied for seventh place at three-under par.

Kerr started with a bogey on the second hole, followed by birdies on the next two holes.  After a bogey on the 10th, Kerr made three straight birdies before carding another bogey on the 14th hole.  She made a final birdie on the 15th hole before finishing with pars.

As Kerr keeps pulling away, it seems the fight will be for second place.  Mika Miyazato, Jimin Kang and Azahara Munoz are tied for second at five-under par.  Jiyai Shin and Song-Hee Kim are a shot behind them in fifth place.  Karrie Webb is in seventh place at three-under par with five players tied for eighth place at two-under par.  Catriona Matthew, In-Kyung Kim, Inbee Park, Meaghan Francella and Sarah Jane Smith are at two-under par.

Kerr started the second round with a birdie on the first hole and then made eight straight pars.  She birdied the 10th hole and finished the round with birdies on the 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes to take a commanding lead heading into the weekend.

Mika Miyazato, the younger sister of top ranked Ai Miyazato, is tied with Inbee Park at five-under par.  Brittany Lincicome and Amy Yang are a shot behind them in fourth place.  Tied for sixth place at three-under par are Jimin Kang, Michele Redman, Na On Min and Azahara Munoz.  Stacy Lewis and Seon Hwa Lee, who both shared the lead at the start of the second round, shot 74s to fall into a tie for 10th place at two-under par.  With Lewis and Lee are Jiyai Shin and In-Kyung Kim.

Moving Day

Kerr looks like she is running away with the LPGA’s second major championship but don’t count out major winners Lincicome and Shin.  Paula Creamer is at one-under par and could creep into the top 10 to have a chance on Sunday.  Yani Tseng may be too far back at two-over par to contend but she is a solid player and it would not be surprising to see her make a move in the third round.  The dark horse this week is Ai Miyazato.  The LPGA’s top ranked player shot 71 in the second round and would need two solid rounds to overtake the red-hot Kerr.

Kerr started the LPGA’s second major championship on the back nine with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes.  She added birdies on the 15th and 17th holes before carding her only bogey of the day at the 18th hole.  Kerr made birdie on the second hole and finished the round with seven pars.

Lewis also started on the 10th hole and made eagle on the par-5, 11th hole.  She gave the shots back with bogeys on the 13th and 16th holes.  After the turn, Lewis made three straight birdies on the third, fourth and fifth holes and added a final birdie on the ninth hole.

Lee started with a bogey on the 10th hole and made an eagle on the 12th.  She finished the side with a birdies on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes and a bogey on the 16th.  She started the second nine with a birdie on the first hole but made a bogey on the fourth before finishing with a birdie on the ninth hole.

Mika Miyazato, top ranked Ai Miyazato’s sister, is tied for fourth place with Inbee Park and Lindsey Wright at three-under par.  Christina Kim, Teresa Lu, Louise Stahle and Heather Bowie Young are tied for seventh place at two-under par.

Ai Miyazato struggled to a four-over par, 76, in the first round.  Second ranked Jiyai Shin returned to the LPGA with an even-par, 72, and is tied for 20th place with Natalie Gulbis, Michelle Wie, In-Kyung Kim and Morgan Pressel to name a few.  Paula Creamer is just outside the top 10 with a one-under par, 71, three shots behind the leaders.

Nordqvist won last year by four shots but, at the tournaments new home, she placed tied for 36th, coming the week after winning the LPGA Championship.  Nordqvist will have to hold off red-hot Ai Miyazato, who won last week for the fourth time this year.

Miyazato comes into the LPGA Championship as the new number one ranked golfer in the world, according to the Rolex Rankings.  Jiyai Shin looks to return to form and try to take back her top ranking after missing the previous two weeks recovering from surgery.  Also, Paula Creamer looked to be in top form at last week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic after missing most of this season after undergoing thumb surgery.

Favorites

Miyazato is the most dangerous player on the LPGA Tour right now, adding a major title would complete a great year.  Yani Tseng, the 2008 LPGA Championship winner, is also a dangerous player.  Creamer played well last week but it may be too early to count her as a favorite.  But, Creamer is always a fan favorite and a player to watch, much like Tiger Woods.  Michelle Wie has been quiet recently and could be crowned a major winner when this week is done.

Miyazato was two shots behind M. J. Hur heading into the final round but pulled away from the field with seven birdies on the day.  Hur played to even-par through 16 holes, with two birdies and two bogeys, and finished the tournament with birdies on the final three holes to take second place.

Miyazato replaces Jiyai Shin from the top spot in the rankings.  Shin, who missed the last two events recovering from appendectomy surgery, took over the number one ranking when Lorena Ochoa retired earlier this season.  Shin hopes to return this week for the LPGA’s second major tournament – LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans.

Steinhauer made birdies on the third and fifth holes and, after a bogey on the eighth, added and eagle on the par-5, ninth hole.  She carded four birdies on the back nine, at the 12th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes, to take the early lead.

Gulbis shot a bogey-free 65 to tie for second place with Elosegui.  Gulbis, after a birdie on the fourth hole, carded four straight birdies from the eighth to 11th holes before adding a final birdie on the 18th.  Ai Miyazato leads a group of five players tied for fourth place at five-under par.  With Miyazato are Jeong Jang, Inbee Park, Catriona Matthew and Kris Tamulis.

Thirteen players are tied in ninth place at four-under par, including Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng and Paula Creamer, who is playing her first event since February after undergoing thumb surgery.  Also in that group are Grace Park, Brittany Lincicome, Amy Hung, M. J. Hur, Gwladys Nocera, Laura Davies, Azahara Munoz, Hee-Won Han and Teresa Lu.

Creamer comes back with a tall mountain to climb as top ranked players like Miyazato, Suzann Pettersen and Cristie Kerr are playing solid golf this season.  Miyazato looks to take advantage of top ranked Jiyai Shin’s absence this week and make a move into the top spot.  Shin is recovering from emergency appendectomy surgery last week at the LPGA State Farm Classic.  Miyazato has three wins this year with Kerr breaking through at the State Farm Classic for her first win of the 2010 LPGA season.  Pettersen is seemingly due for a win as the third ranked star has four top three finishes.  Pettersen also finished second here last year, losing to Ji Young Oh by four shots.

Yoo, who defeated Jiyai Shin 2&1 to reach the finals, bested Stanford 3&1 to win.  Yoo took the lead on the third hole and held it through the 11th.  Stanford won the 11th to move the match all square and then birdied the 12th hole to go one-up.  Yoo regrouped and won the 13th and 14th holes to put the match one-up in her favor.  After halving the 15th hole, Yoo won the 16th and 17th holes to take the match 3&1.

In the consolation match, Shin played Amy Yang, who lost to Stanford in a 19 hole semi-final match.  Yang took the early lead with a birdie on the fourth hole and the pair traded holes through the ninth hole.  After halving the 10th hole, Shin took control of the match with wins on the 11th, 13th and 15th holes for  a 3&2 victory and third place.

The format for the event will have players separated into four brackets, named after the top four LPGA career win leaders – Kathy Whitworth, Mickey Wright, Annika Sorenstam and Patty Berg.  The top 32 players will be ranked and their opponents will be determined by draw.  Here is a link to the bracket.

The last LGPA match play event was in 2007 at the HSBC Women’s Match Play Championship at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, New York.

After four inches of rain fell overnight, play started at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Magnolia Grove.  The LPGA officials called the tournament after a five hour rain delay, shortening the event to 54-holes.  Pak, Lincicome and Pettersen were tied at 13-under par after three rounds and played the 18th hole as a sudden death playoff.

The three tied the first attempt and Pettersen fell out of contention with a bogey on the second playoff hole. On the third playoff hole, Pak put her approach shot from a fairway bunker to about 10 feet.  Lincicome tried to put some pressure on Pak’s final birdie putt when she drained a tough, downhill putt from about 30-feet to save par.

Pak started on the back side of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Magnolia Grove with two pars before making birdie on the 12th hole.  She traded bogey for birdie on the 15th and 16th holes to finish the side at one-under par.  After a par on the first hole, Pak made birdies on five of the next six holes to take the lead.

Lincicome and Ward shot 66 and 65, respectively.  They are two shots better than Suzann Pettersen, first round leader Azahara Munoz, Sun Young Yoo and Haeji Kang, who are all tied in fourth place at six-under par.  Na Yeon Choi leads a group of five players tied for eighth place at five-under.  With Choi are Janice Moodie, Meena Lee, Jee Young Lee and Shi Hyun Ahn.

Munoz was bogey-free on the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Golf Trail’s Magnolia Grove in Alabama.  She started on the 10th hole and made birdies on the 11th, 13th and 16th holes.  After pars on the first and second holes, Munoz made birdies on the third, fifth and sixth holes before finishing with a final birdie on the ninth hole.

Hull and Lee shot 66 to tie for second place at six-under par.  Cristie Kerr is tied for fourth place at five-under par with Meena Lee, Janice Moodie and Hya Jung Choi.  Suzann Pettersen shot 68, four-under par, and is tied for eighth place with Amanda Blumenherst, Sun Young Yoo and Eunjung Yi.

Defending champion Angela Stanford shot two-under par and is tied for 22nd place with Ai Miyazato, Jiyai Shin and Morgan Pressel.

Angela Stanford returns as the defending champion but faces a tough field looking to make a move on the newly crowned number one ranked Jiyai Shin.  World number two Ai Miyazato, who has won three of five tournaments this year, is not far behind Shin in the Rolex Rankings and looks to take over the top spot this week.

This is the first LPGA event since Lorena Ochoa retired.  Players to watch this week are Morgan Pressel, Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen.  Pressel won last week on the Japan LPGA, moving her Rolex Ranking to 17th.  Wie came close to a win two weeks ago in Mexico, finishing third for her second top 10 of the season.  Pettersen has finished in the top 10 in four of the five events this.  Pettersen finished second twice – at the Honda RTT LPGA Thailiand and the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Here is another story on Blasberg from LPGA.com.

And more stories remembering Erica Blasberg – one from Blasberg’s friend and sometimes caddy Shane Bacon at Devil Ball Golf and another from Patricia Hannigan at GolfGirl Diary.

Miyazato made a birdie on the first hole and took control of the tournament with a stretch of six birdies over seven holes from the eighth to 14th hole, including four straight from the eighth to 11th holes.  She did make a birdie on the 15th hole but finished with pars to maintain her lead.

Lewis shot a bogey-free 66 in the final round to finish in second place.  She started with birdies on the first two holes and added birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth holes.  After a third straight birdie on the 10th hole, Lewis couldn’t get back under par until the 18th hole and finished a shot short of her first career win.

Michelle Wie seemed to playing her way to a second LPGA victory with birdies on the second, sixth and eighth holes.  After an eagle on the par-4, ninth hole, Wie looked like a champion but, a double-bogey on the par-3, 13th hole stalled her round.  Wie would make birdies on the next two holes but closed bogey-birdie to finish two shots behind Miyazato in third place.

Ma Yeon Choi took fifth place at 13-under par.  Ochoa, who announced just over a week ago her retirement from the LPGA after this week, finished in sixth place at 12-under par, seven shots behind Miyazato.  Maria Hjorth and Amanda Blumenherst tied for seventh place.  Suzann Pettersen closed with a 65 to move up the leaderboard into a tie for ninth place with Karen Stupples, Brittany Lincicome, Song-Hee Kim and Irene Cho.

Wie got off to a great start with seven birdies in the first 12 holes.  After a bogey on the 14th, Wie made a birdie on the 16th before making bogey on the final two holes.  Miyazato led after the first round and shot a one-under par, 72, to fall out of the top spot.  She is tied with Lincicome, who shot a six-under par, 67.

Na Yeon Choi is in fourth place at nine-under par with Jee Young Lee a shot behind her in fifth place, four shots behind Wie.  Defending champion Lorena Ochoa is tied for sixth place at seven-under par.  She is tied with Kristy McPherson, Stacy Lewis, Karen Stupples, Sarah Jane Smith and Jeong Jang.

Moving Day

With players outside the top 10 six shots behind Wie, it is going to take a low round to get into contention on Sunday.  From a fans perspective, it would be great to see Ochoa, who is retiring at the end of the event, and Wie battle in the final group on Sunday.  Outside of the top 10, In-Kyung Kim, Katherine Hull and Anna Nordqvist are players that could make a move into contention.  The dark horse is Sandra Gal, who is at four-under par after shooting 69 in the second round.