Twelve-year-old Kiwi Lydia Ko finishes seventh

Laura Davies' 73rd win is NZ Women's Open

FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England’s Laura Davies came to the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open with a star billing and showed why when winning the $400,000 co-sanctioned Ladies European Tour and ALPG event by two shots at Pegasus Town, near Christchurch.
Davies had four birdies and never dropped a shot in her closing round of four-under 68 to finish nine-under par, a win worth $60,000 but more importantly for her it brought her victories world-wide to 73 and meant New Zealand was another country she had ticked off the list.
Not that the win will stop her from returning next year to defend her crown. ``I love to play and love to win – that’s what keeps me motivated,’’ she said. She has won in the United States, most European countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
``India and Portugal are among the few places I’ve been to and not won and if I get a chance to play in South Africa I’d go there,’’ said the 46-year-old global golf traveller.
Davies started the final round in second place at five-under par, a shot behind Australia’s Sarah Kemp and she had fallen to two behind at the turn with the 24-year-old Kemp having had three birdies on the front nine to Davies’ two.
They were level after Davies birdied the 12th hole and the Englishwoman took the lead when Kemp bogeyed after failing to get up and down from a bunker. Davies holed what she called a ``crucial putt’’ for birdie at the par-5 16th to increase her lead to two and felt then that two pars would be enough to win.
That proved correct, Davies playing the last hole, a par-5 of 460m conservatively, hitting a No 5 iron off the tee, then a No. 6 iron and sand wedge to the green and two-putting.
``I was happy to make par and if she (Kemp) was good enough to eagle it then we would go to a play-off.’’
Davies contested the inaugural New Zealand Open at Clearwater last year, but found the course, with its amount of water and out-of-bounds areas, ``blew her mind’’.
She liked Pegasus at first sight and, seeing she was quoted as a 12-1 chancee on an on-line betting site back home, rang her brother to say she was worth a bet. She didn’t know if he had followed her sage advice.
Kemp, as she did last year, finished joint runner-up after a one-under 71, her third sub-par round.
``She (Davies) was always going to be a tough competitor to beat so if I could pick someone to be in a match-play battle she would be the one – I knew Laura would be the one to beat.
Kemp shared second with first-round leader, Marianne Skarpnord, of Norway, and Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg, who shot a sensational course record of nine-under 63 with 10 birdies.
Last year’s champion, Gwladys Nocera (France), and Georgina Simpson (England) were tied for fifth on five-under 283 and in a group of six on 284. Tied for seventh was the outstanding little 12-year-old from the Pupuke club in North Harbour, Lydia Ko, who finished with a 69 – her third sub-par round – to be the best of the New Zealanders.
FROM THE STUFF.CO.NZ WEBSITE:
Lydia's performance won widespread admiration, particularly from her playing partner today, Iben Tinning, of Denmark, and Norwegian Cecilie Lundgreen.
Tinning described the youngster as "being unbelievable already" while Lundgreen, a veteran of 11 years on the European circuit, said that "it was incredible how a 12-year-old seemed to be totally unfazed by everything that was going on around her".
Despite conditions fluctuating from calm to almost gale-force noreasterlies over the four days, Ko had three sub-par rounds in her 71, 73, 71, 69 total.
Had it not been for a cold putter last Friday she would have had all four rounds in red figures. The most remarkable was her third round 71, when she was one of only 16 players to break par in a day of carnage.
For Ko, thought to be the youngest player to make the cut in a LET event, handling the bigger crowds and spectator interest was a major plus.
"Playing with more people and more spectators, I think I played pretty well today," she said.
After getting up and down out of the greenside bunker on the second hole, Ko had three birdies over the next four holes to go out in 33. Her only blemish was on the par-three 11th where her tee shot was too strong.
After an indifferent putting performance over the first two days, Ko regained her confidence, both with the line and pace of her putts.
"My coach recorded the message for me 'I love putting' which made me confident for today."
Ko had three goals at Pegasus. One was to make the cut, which meant she could get her mother's approval to get her ears pierced, the second was to beat her international team-mate and friend Cecilia Cho, and the third was to better Cho's equal 14th finish in last year's inaugural New Zealand Open. She accomplished all of them.

BRILLIANT RECORD 63 BY PERNILLA LINDBERG
Rookie Swedish professional Pernilla Lindberg posted a brilliant record score of nine-under par 63 on the final day.
She had 10 birdies in a round which bettered by two the first-day score of Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord and her only bogey, at the 10th, came through having been given the wrong pin placement sheet.
The correct sheet showed the pin had been brought forward and Lindberg, 23, admitted she was ``mad’’ after hitting her approach over the green and dropping a shot after having turned in four-under 32 with birdies at the first, fifth, sixth and ninth.
Lindberg, in her first appearance as a professional on the European Ladies Tour (LET) after turning pro last June – she played five LET events as an amateur – after graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in international business - calmed herself and answered by birdieing the next two holes as well as the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th for an inward half of 31.
After being 31st overnight and two-over par, she rocketed to equal second and picked up a cheque for almost $30,000 instead of $3000.
She said that rolling in an 8m birdie putt at the first had given her momentum and while she had 10 birdies she gave herself good birdie chances on most of the other holes. The secret of her record round was the four par-5s – she birdied them all and three of them were results of two-putts.
Apart from a 8m downhill birdie putt at the difficult par-3 11th, most of her birdies were from inside 4m.
Lindberg, a member of the Swedish team which won the 2008 world Espirito Santo amateur team championship in Adelaide, has a playeres' card for the LPGA Tour after finishing 19th at Qualifying School last December.
She intends to play about 12 or 13 LPGA and six LET Tour events this year.
Lindberg said she held several course records and had shot eight-under twice before, but 10 birdies and a nine-under finish were personal bests.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
279 Laura Davies (England) 69 71 71 68.
281 Sarah Kemp (Australia) 69 67 74 71, Marianne Skarpnord (Norway) 65 73 75 68, Pernilla Lindberg (Sweden) 73 70 75 63.
283 Georgina Simpson (England) 78 69 67 69, Gwladys Nocera (France) 73 71 72 67.
284 Lorie Kane (Canada) 73 66 74 71, Mina Harigae (United States) 73 73 68 70, Linda Wessberg (Sweden) 72 70 73 69, Iben Tinning (Denmark) 73 71 71 69, Lydia Ko (New Zealand) (amateur) 71 73 71 69, Becky Brewerton (Wales) 72 69 71 72.
285 Diana d'Alessio (United Sttes) 67 68 79 71, Beth Allen (United States) 73 69 74 69, Ashleigh Simon (South Africa) 68 70 78 69, Taylor Leon (United States) 72 75 71 67, You Na Park (South Korea) 73 69 71 72.
Selected scores:
289 Lynn Kenny (Scotland) 786 71 72 70, Rebecca Coakley (Ireland) 72 74 74 69 (jt 31st).
290 Hazel Kavanagh (Ireland) 74 70 75 71, Alison Walshe (Ireland) 72 72 73 73, Becky Morgan (Wales) 73 74 70 73, Krystle Caithness (Scotland) 74 72 72 72 (jt 36th).
293 Elizabeth Bennett (England) 72 73 79 69, Sophie Walker (England) 73 75 74 71, Lydia Hall (Wales) 76 70 74 73, Florentyna Parker (England) 72 75 69 77, Azahara Munoz (Spain) 71 73 77 72 (jt 47th)
295 Melissa Reid (England) 73 74 74 74 (jt 69th).
296 Rebecca Hudson (England) 73 75 73 75, Hannah Ralph (England) 73 75 70 78 (jt 82nd).