Pressel, Lennarth lead as Park fades at British Open

Pressel, Lennarth lead as Park fades at British Open

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August 1, 2013

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Morgan Pressel of the U.S. reacts to her putt at the 18th hole during the Women's British Open golf championship …



(Reuters) - American Morgan Pressel and Sweden's Camilla Lennarth shared the lead at the women's British Open on Thursday as grand slam-hunting South Korean Inbee Park slumped to finish three shots off the pace in the first round.

Pressel and Lennarth carded six-under 66s at St Andrews to lead by one stroke from a chasing pack that includedAmericans Nicole Castrale, Stacy Lewis, Ryann O'Toole and Sydnee Michaels as well as Park's compatriots Mi-Jeong Jeon and Na Yeon Choi.

World number one Park finished on three-under-par after a fast start as she bids to become the first player of either gender to win four majors in a calendar year.

The South Korean was six-under through 10 holes but dropped shots at the 13th, 16th, which she double bogeyed, and 17th before picking up a birdie at the 18th.

Pressel hit seven birdies and one bogey in her opening round at the Old Course in Scotland.


Eight players finished the day at four under, including Scotland's former British Open winner Catriona Matthew, English pair Liz Young and Georgia Hall, and former U.S. Open champion Paula Creamer of the United States.

The 25-year-old Park won the first three majors of 2013 - the Kraft Nabisco title, LPGA Championship and U.S. Open.

Officially, victory at St Andrews this weekend would not constitute a grand slam, since the Evian Masters in September has this year been granted the status of the fifth major.

But securing a fourth successive major in a calendar year would be heralded as an unprecedented achievement.

Park has already matched the feat of Babe Zaharias in 1950 of winning the first three majors of the year.
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Sweden's Camilla Lennarth tees off at the 17th hole during the Women's British Open golf championshi …

(Writing by Stephen Wood in London, editing by Ken Ferris)

Firestone specialist Woods back in contention

Firestone specialist Woods back in contention

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Mark Lamport-Stokes August 1, 2013

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Tiger Woods of the U.S. watches his second shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone …


By Mark Lamport-Stokes

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - For Tiger Woods, it was back to business as usual at one of his happiest hunting grounds as he moved ominously into contention at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday.

The world number one has triumphed a record seven times in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event atFirestone Country Club and looked as good as ever here on the way to an opening four-under-par 66.

Woods took advantage of greens softened by overnight rain with some pinpoint iron play to put himself in a good position to push on for his fifth PGA Tour victory of the season.

"I felt pretty good today," the 14-times major winner told reporters after carding six birdies and two bogeys to end a warm, breezy day at Firestone two strokes behinds pacesetting American Webb Simpson.

"It was a little blustery, the wind was up and the greens were soft but at least the ball was flying. I feel very good about what I'm doing with basically my whole swing. I hit a lot of good shots.

"I had a really good feel for the distance today, and (caddie) Joey (LaCava) and I really read the wind right today. We changed a few shots out there, and we both had a really good handle on what we were doing feel-wise with the wind."

Woods, who last won here in 2009, birdied four of his last nine holes to surge up the leaderboard at a heavily tree-lined venue where he has always felt extremely comfortable.

"I've played terrible coming in here and I've played really well coming in and, for some reason on this golf course, I just see it," the 37-year-old said. "It's just one of those venues.

"Luckily over the years I've taken advantage of it. I have played well and I've scored well, and I've won my share of tournaments here."


SWING CHANGE

Woods has posted 11 top-10s in 13 appearances at Firestone, his rare bad weeks here coming in 2010 and 2011 when he was battling back from the breakdown of his marriage and assorted injury problems, while also working on his fourth swing change.

"Unfortunately some of those times were when I was changing my swing and I was going through that change," he explained. "It's one of those things where you've still got to play well.

"But I still felt comfortable with what I was seeing out there even though I didn't play well. It's hard to explain, but I just feel comfortable seeing the shots here.

"You still have to execute, obviously, and over the course of my career here, I've done all right at doing that."

Woods, who is also aiming to build momentum for next week's PGA Championship at Oak Hill, was especially pleased with the improvement in his putting, which had cost him dearly in his title bid for last month's British Open.

He ended up in a tie for sixth at Muirfield in Scotland where his challenge for a first major victory in five years unraveled in the final round as he closed with a three-over-par 74.

"I thought I putted well," Woods said of his performance at rain-softened Firestone. "I had a good speed to it. I did some good work last night, had a really good handle on the feel.

"Obviously it changed overnight with the rain and I spent a little more time hitting some lag putts with a little moisture on it to see what it would do. Downhill putts were quick, but uphill putts were much slower than yesterday."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

Golf-Firestone delight for in-form Stenson

Golf-Firestone delight for in-form Stenson

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August 1, 2013


By Mark Lamport-Stokes

AKRON, Ohio, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Resurgent Swede Henrik Stenson could hardly be in a more different position at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational since he most recently competed in the World Golf Championships (WGC) event three years ago.

In 2010, a dispirited Stenson finished stone last in an elite field of 80 at Firestone Country Club and he later regretted playing in the tournament that week as he had been battling a lingering viral infection.

On Thursday, however, he buried all those painful memories by firing a five-under-par 65 in the opening round, continuing the excellent form he has produced over the past month.

"Five-under and bogey-free around here is not something you do every day, I guess," a smiling Stenson told reporters after making an explosive birdie-eagle start before finishing a stroke behind pacesetting American Webb Simpson.

"My game's moving in the right direction for sure."

Stenson, who has endured two lengthy slumps in form during an otherwise successful career that has earned him seven European Tour titles, arrived at Firestone in upbeat mood after recording top-10 finishes in his last three events.


"The final round in Munich, I played really, really solid tee to green," the 37-year-old said, referring to the BMW International Open where he tied for 10th place.

"Scottish Open, I had a great scoring round the second day but more than anything the third round was really good there tee to green. And then at the British I hit a lot of good shots but I didn't feel like I played perfect there by any means.

"But I felt very comfortable being out there and the way I played in the final round (at the British Open). That's something I will take with me for future big events if I can put myself in that position again."

Stenson, who won the biggest title of his career at the PGA Tour's 2009 Players Championship, tied for third in last month's Scottish Open before finishing joint second in the British Open at Muirfield the following week.

It has been a long road back for the Swede who struggled for form for much of 2001 and 2002, and again during his 2011 campaign.

"We all go through ups and downs," said Stenson. "Back in '11 and for parts of last year, as well, I wasn't in the big ones (elite events). We all want to win major championships, and you've got to be in the tournaments to start with.

"So that was the first goal, to get back into the top 50 to be in for all the big events," said the Swede, who has climbed to 19th in the world rankings after plummeting to 230th early last year. It's been a lot of hard work and a couple of changes.

"I went back to my old sports psychologist last summer and put a more of a long-term plan in place for all the different areas of the game. It's been some good work there that's starting to pay off big time." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)