Sally Watson fifth in Florida as she

warms up for 'British' at Harlech

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Curtis Cup Scot Sally Watson, fifth in a rain-shortened Future Collegians World Tour event at the weekend, is warming up nicely for next month's British women's open amateur championship at Royal St David's Golf Club, Harlech in North Wales.

This is the key tournament for the contenders for places in the GB&I team of nine for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Hamburg (July 24-25). The selectors will be out in force on the Harlech links, seeking to choose a team that will be taking on a Continental team every bit as strong as a United States line-up.

Spain's Maria Hernandez (Purdue University) won the American college circuit women's championship last week and her compatriot Azahara Munoz (Arizona State) won the title last year. Both will be in the European team for Hamburg as will a third Spaniard, who, on her day, is probably better than both Hernandez and Munoz - Carlota Ciganda, the British champion at Alwoodley in 2007.

Sally Watson, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, who will be 18 on July 10, is a resident student at the IMG David Leadbetter Academy at Bradenton, Florida. She had a knee operation immediately after last year's Curtis Cup over the Old Course, St Andrews and was out of action for months.

The selectors will be looking to see if Sally is as good as she was and her results in American tournaments this year indicate that she has made a full recovery from the operation.

Sally will be enrolling at Stanford University, California - where Tiger Woods and Mhairi McKay were also students, in the autumn.

The latest tournament the Scot, entered from Earlsferry, was playing in was the FCWT's Laura Diaz National Championship at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida over the 6,335yd Haig course with a par of 72.

A round was lost because of rain, so there just weren't enough holes left for Sally to make up the ground she conceded with a slow start of 76. Her second round - a 71 - was more like it with birdies at the second, fourth, eighth and 11th before she bogeyed the 13th, 14th and 18th.

Pars there would have seen Sally finish a lot closer than four shots behind the winner, Maria Imelda Isabel Piccio from Davao in the Philippines. She scored 72 and 71 for 143.

Sally was the only British player in an international field of 78. Three of the first five came from the Philippines, not a country renowned for producing very good female golfers. South Korea may have to look to its laurels.

If you want to read all the scores: use this link:

http://fcwt.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/fcwt8/event/fcwt863/contest/1/leaderboard.htm