Stanford Wins Singapore Play-off

Angela Stanford won the HSBC Women's Champions event in Singapore, emerging victorious from a four-way play-off.

The 34-year-old American claimed her fifth LPGA Tour title after holing a putt at the third extra hole to see off the challenges of South Korean duo Jenny Shin and Na Yeon Choi, as well as China's Shanshan Feng.

Feng was the first to fall by the wayside in the play-off, being eliminated at the opening hole, and Choi's bid for victory came to an end at the players' second attempt at the 18th.

That left Stanford and teenager Shin to battle it out for victory and it was the former who took the honours after sinking a three-foot putt for par.

At the start of the final round, Stanford and Shin shared the lead along with Katie Futcher at nine under for the tournament at Tanah Merah Country Club.

Shin had looked on course for victory as she held a one-shot lead heading into the final hole when play was suspended for an hour and half due to thunder and lightning.

When the final group resumed, the 19-year-old Shin made a double-bogey six on the last for a one-under-par round of 71 and that left her level with Stanford (71), Choi (68) and Feng (69) on 10-under-par and set up the play-off.

Armas Delights in 2012 LET Schedule

A truly international schedule featuring 24 golf tournaments in 19 different countries was unveiled for 2012 today by the Ladies European Tour.

The 2012 Ladies European Tour schedule features two new tournaments in Buckinghamshire, England and Helsingborg, Sweden, as well as two provisional additional dates in March and October. 

The year starts off with Qualifying School at La Manga Club in Spain in early January. The season proper then begins with RACV Australian Ladies Masters during the first week of February, followed by the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open and the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open, hosted by Christchurch.

The Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco will be played one week earlier than previously scheduled, from March 22-25 and moves to Golf de l'Ocean in Agadir, which hosted the Hassan II Trophée on the PGA European Tour in 2010. For the third straight year the men’s and women’s events will take place in the same city during the same week.

Moving into Europe, the Aberdeen Asset management Ladies Scottish Open presented by EventScotland will continue at Archerfield Links in East Lothian, Scotland, from May 3-5. The designated special event will feature a field of 80 players with a cut.

The Turkish Ladies Open then continues at National Golf Club, Belek, Antalya, Turkey, from May 10-13, followed by the UniCredit Ladies German Open presented by Audi at Golfpark Gut Häusern, near Munich in Germany from May 24-27.

In June, the Deloitte Ladies Open will again be played at Golfclub Broekpolder in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, followed by the Ladies Slovak Open at Golf Resort Tale in Brezno, Tale, Slovakia.

The Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, with a prize fund of €525,000, will be played at Golf Gerre Losone, Ticino, Switzerland from June 14-17.

Then, following a successful first visit to the Czech Republic in 2010, the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters will return to Albatross Golf Resort.

The Evian Masters presented by Societe Generale will be staged at Evian Masters Golf Club in Evian-Les-Bains, France from June 26-29.

Returning to the scene of Europe’s dramatic Solheim Cup victory, Killeen Castle will host the

Ladies Irish Open from August 3-5.

Buckinghamshire Golf Club, venue for the inaugural ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters

The inaugural ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters will be played at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, home to the Ladies European Tour’s headquarters, from August 13-19 following the London 2012 Olympic Games and before the Paralympics.

The Tour will then move to Austria for the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen at Golfclub Föhrenwald in Wiener Neustadt from August 30 to September 2nd.

In another exciting development, the LET returns to Sweden after a three year hiatus for the inaugural Helsingborg Open at Vasatorp Golf Club, Helsingborg, Skane, from September 6-9.

The RICOH Women's British Open, making an historical first visit to Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, from September 13-16, will then take place ahead of the Open de España Femenino and Ladies Open of Portugal.

The Lacoste Ladies Open de France moves to Chantaco Golf Club in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Aquitaine, from October 4-7, for the last event of the year on European soil.

The Tour then heads east for the Sanya Ladies Open at Yalong Bay Golf Club in Hainan, China, ahead of the China Suzhou Taihu Open at Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club near Shanghai from October 26-28.

The Hero Honda Women's Indian Open will again take place at DLF Golf & Country Club near New Delhi and the season concludes with the seventh staging of the highly popular Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Course in the United Arab Emirates. 

“We have been able to offer our members a wide range of attractive playing opportunities at some of the world’s finest international venues,” said the Ladies European Tour’s executive director Alexandra Armas.

“We are pleased with the schedule, particularly given the poor shape of the global economy and these are exciting times for the LET.”

Lexi Sets LET Record in Dubai

American Lexi Thompson, 16, became the youngest professional golfer to win on the Ladies European Tour when she captured the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters by four shots at Emirates Golf Club.

Aged 16 years, 10 months, 8 days, she became the second youngest ever Ladies European Tour event winner after South Korean Amy Yang, who was aged 16 years, 6 months, 8 days, when she won the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia as an amateur, in 2006.

Thompson, born on February 9, 1995, claimed her second professional title just three months after winning the Navistar LPGA Classic on that Tour. 

Thompson closed with a five under par 67 for a 15 under total of 273 to become the first ever American winner of the title in the six-year history of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, in which she tied for 22nd place on her tournament debut 12 months earlier. 

She said: “It feels amazing. I feel really honoured that they invited me back and grateful to be here. I’ve been working on my game really hard and it’s paid off. I’m going to continue working hard and just trying to improve every tournament.”

Wearing her traditional final round colour of blue and adorned in ‘good-luck’ ladybirds, she started the day one shot clear of the field but lost her lead to Lee-Anne Pace after seven holes.

The South African was red-hot with two birdies and an eagle in her first six holes and although Thompson birdied the second and the third, she lost her lead after a bogey on the seventh.

However, Thompson, who qualified to play in the US Women’s Open as a 12-year-old, chipped in for birdie at the par-four ninth hole to regain her one stroke advantage and played sensational golf on the back nine.

She birdied the 10th, 13th and 14th to gain a five stroke lead after Pace dropped shots at the eighth and the 12th holes.

Her second blemish was a three-putt bogey on 17 and there was a two-shot swing when Pace made birdie, reducing the gap to three strokes, but no nerves were visible as Thompson played the par-five 18th. She played her second shot safely in front of the lake before flicking a wedge to three feet and making the birdie putt. 

“The chip‑in was definitely really important, but the whole day my whole goal was to get it to 15‑under. That was my goal, but once she made the birdie and the eagle, I knew I had to play my game, make a lot of birdies, so I just kept on going strong and hoping for the best,” Thompson said

“On the 17th I struggled a little bit on that green, but I ended up three‑putting, it was a two‑shot swing. But I was just thinking I'm going to just take 3‑wood off the tee and hopefully make birdie or par that way. I would think that would do it. So I ended up making birdie, so it was a bonus.

“I was playing safe, but still pretty aggressive, just playing smart. So I just went into 18 and played smart, hit 3‑wood and hopefully make par, birdie.

“If it was close, I might have gone and hit driver and went to the green to make eagle if it was close, but I'm just thinking I'm pretty good with my wedges, so I was just hoping for birdie with that.”

Pace played the final hole in regulation and her final-round 69 left her alone in second.

Pace said: “I guess I could have had things a little bit different. I hit a bad club on I think it was number 12 over the green which cost me a shot, and I think that's where things changed around. But I'm pretty happy I played well.”

Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson had a solid bogey-free final round of 71 and ended third at 10 under, but acknowledged that just one final-hole birdie was not enough to put any pressure on the youngster.

“I played well; I just couldn’t get any of the putts to drop. I mean, I think I hit 16 greens and had 34 putts, so that’s not going to win you any tournaments, but it was nice to finish with a birdie on the last,” Gustafson said.

Fellow Swede Pernilla Lindberg had been in contention but dropped into a share of fourth place after a bogey on 17. She had a final round of 71 to end nine under alongside Becky Morgan and Stacy Lee Bregman, while Alison Walshe and Julieta Granada were two strokes further behind. 

Georgina Simpson shot 67 and moved up into a share of ninth with Florentyna Parker and Caroline Hedwall.

In the other final round tussle, Melissa Reid finished second on the Ladies European Tour’s Henderson Money List for 2011 after tying for 22nd, while Hedwall ended in third place for the season.

American Michelle Wie carded a final round 72 and finished in share of 12th at five under, her challenge effectively having ended with a double bogey on the ninth hole.