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Saturday, 27 July 2013

Woods in Ladies Masters Mix

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Cheyenne Woods, niece of 14-time major winner Tiger, shot a five-under 67 to be four off the lead after the first round of the Ladies European Masters at Buckinghamshire Golf Club.

She is tied for sixth with four others, including Scotland's Kylie Walker.

German Caroline Masson and South Africa's Ashley Simon lead by three.

To qualify for next week's British Open, Woods, 23, needs to be among the top three finishers who have not already qualified for St Andrews.

England's Charley Hull, 17, is five shots off the pace after shooting a 68 and is tied 11th with several others, including Australia's multi-major winner Karrie Webb.

Another Englishwoman, 49-year-old Laura Davies - Britain's greatest ever female golfer - is level par. She is looking for at least a top-three finish as part of her bid to qualify for August's Solheim Cup between Europe and the US in Colorado.

American Woods is embarking on her first full season as a professional as part of the Ladies European Tour.

If she is unsuccessful at the European Masters, which runs from Friday to Sunday, she faces an anxious day in final qualifying at Kingsbarns Golf Club on Monday.

She said after Friday's first round: "I felt like I played really steady and that I hit the ball well, so overall it was a good day."

Hull came in for praise from Webb who said: "What a fantastic talent. Quite a big pairing for her today and she eagled the first hole.

"I don't know how many nerves were there but very impressive. I think she'll be around for a long time."

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Davies in Solheim Cup Race

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Laura Davies has just two weeks left to qualify for August's Solheim Cup in Colorado.

The 49-year-old, who has played in all 12 editions of the tournament since it started in 1990, is determined to qualify for the European team.

Victory will be the only thing on her mind when she tees up in the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters at Buckinghamshire Golf Club from Friday.

It is the penultimate qualifying tournament before next week's Ricoh Women's British Open, when both the European and United States teams will be announced jointly on the evening of Sunday, 4 August.

With the European team comprising the top four from the Ladies European Tour standings, followed by the next top four from the Rolex World Rankings and four wild cards, this week's tournament represents an opportunity to earn up to 40 Cup points.

Davies is currently 21st on the points list, 66.5 points behind fourth ranked Caroline Masson of Germany. Suzann Pettersen, Carlota Ciganda and Catriona Matthew are the other three players in the top four.

"There are two more weeks. I'm well down the list. I need to have two more big weeks, whether it gets me in on automatic points, I'd have to win one probably and top three in the other one," said Davies, who is hoping to impress European Captain Liselotte Neumann.

"I'm hoping I can do that, or just to show a bit form to the captain. There might be one pick left that's she's umming and ahhing about. I think the team pretty much sets up. A lot of people agree about who's definitely in. There might be one spot left up for grabs and maybe if someone has a strong finish these two weeks they might get the captain's attention."

Davies, the event's all-time points' scorer, says the fact that she hasn't got enough points makes her even more determined.

"You want to be there on merit. You don't want to be a captain's pick. It means you haven't done enough for two years to warrant that automatic spot, but then again the picks are there for a reason and sometimes you want something different.

"Sometimes it's a new player, sometimes it might be bringing in an experienced player. You want to get the points but its tough. Its a two year qualifying process and unfortunately for me and a lot of other players we haven't done enough yet.

"It's everything, really. I've played in 12 and 1990 was the first one. That's a long time to be playing in an event and all of a sudden you're not good enough to play in it. It's going to be disappointing but that day will come soon, hopefully not in the next two weeks.

"Hopefully I'll do enough because it is quite simply, the most fun you'll have on tour."