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Webb makes an ace, takes lead before rain halts Honda LPGA Thailand

By Associated Press and PA Sport
Published on
Webb makes an ace, takes lead before rain halts Honda LPGA Thailand

CHONBURI, Thailand -- Karrie Webb aced the 12th hole Friday but left the course two holes later leading the Honda LPGA Thailand by two strokes when storms halted the second round.

Webb was 10 under for the tournament through 14 holes, two ahead of another former world No. 1, Jiyai Shin (6-under 66) and her South Korean compatriot Amy Yang (8 under through 14).

The 2007 champion Suzann Pettersen (67) of Norway was among a group of three at 7 under, and defending champion and top-ranked Yani Tseng (65) led a group at 6 under, including first-round leader Ai Miyazato, who had five holes to finish.

Michelle Wie rebounded from an opening 75 with a 68 to sit at 1 under.

Webb was looking forward to completing the second round with 13 other women early Saturday at Siam Golf and Country Club.

“It was a very solid day,” the Australian said. “Obviously put a great swing on a 6-iron on No. 12. I didn’t see it go in but the crowd roared when it went in off the green. I’m disappointed not to get finished today.”

The seven-time major winner had four successive birdies on Nos. 6-9 then made the fifth hole-in-one of her career on the par-3, 188-yard No. 12. Paula Creamer made an ace on the same hole Thursday. The last time Webb made a hole-in-one was in 2008, in the third round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California.

Webb bogeyed the 13th, but birdied the 14th before play was stopped.
 
Shin carded an error-free round of 66 to total 8-under 136, and the best finished score in the clubhouse.
 
Countrywoman Na Yeon Choi was among those at 7 under, but had four holes to complete.
 
Tseng was relieved to salvage some pride with a formidable round of 65 after shooting a 73 on Thursday. Playing with her right elbow taped, she offset two bogeys by sinking seven birdies and finishing with a 7-foot eagle putt on 18.
 
“(On Thursday) I went back to the hotel really, really sad and very, very disappointed. I was crying. It was really bad,” Tseng said. “I told myself that I need to get back soon. I know that I can play well on this golf course and I know I can do this. I kept telling myself just focus on tomorrow.
 
“Today when I got to the golf course I felt great and I told my caddie, ‘Jason, I’m going to shoot 7 under and get back into the top position.’ And I did.”

Down in Christchurch, New Zealand, fourteen-year-old Lydia Ko shot a 3-under 69 to finish two strokes behind the first-round leaders Friday in the New Zealand Women’s Open.

Ko, the world’s top-ranked amateur, became the youngest winner of a professional tour event last month in the Women’s New South Wales Open in Australia.

England’s Kym Larratt, France’s Joanna Klatten and New Zealanders Lynette Brooky and Emily Perry, also an amateur, shot 67 to top the leaderboard at Pegasus Golf Club.
 
Americans Jaclyn Sweeney, Hannah Yun, Danielle Kang, Gerina Piller, Amelia Lewis and Alison Walsh were in the group at 68 in the event sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and Australian Ladies Professional Golf.
 
Ko, who started on the 10th hole, bogeyed the par-4 third, rallied with birdies at the fifth and sixth, but bogeyed the par-3 eighth when her tee shot went over the back of the green.
 
“It was a tricky hole for club selection,” Ko said. “I have to hit a hybrid or wood, so I won’t get as much spin on the ball as the other girls.”
 
The teenager is playing her fourth professional tournament in four weeks.
 
“I wouldn’t have minded 4 under, but I hit it OK off the tee and putted OK,” she said. “My legs were starting to get sore on the last few holes, but you have to deal with that. I only feel tired after I finish a round.”