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Straits Times
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Ben Griffin and Matti Schmid share lead at Colonial
Ben Griffin of the United States plays his shot from the sixth tee during the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on May 23. PHOTO: AFP HOUSTON – American Ben Griffin and Germany's Matti Schmid shared the lead at 11 under after the second round of the PGA Tour's Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on May 23. The duo hold a two-stroke lead over American John Pak but world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, chasing a third straight win on tour, was 10 strokes off the leaders after shooting one over. The leading pair both shot seven-under rounds of 63. Griffin started on fire, making birdies on his first two holes, the 10th and 11th. The only blemish in an otherwise perfect round for the 29-year-old came with a bogey on the par-four 5th hole where he had to pay up after driving left into the rough. After two runners-up spots on the PGA Tour, Griffin finally earned his first win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event where he played with Andrew Novak. He finished tied for eighth at the PGA Championship last week, his best performance in a Major, and said he felt the victory had liberated his game. 'I feel like I've kind of made good steps the last couple of years just kind of building to get to that first win. Now that I've got that first win, I feel like it's really freeing me up,' he said. 'I feel like I'm trying to win more. Not that I wasn't trying to win in the past, but just the monkey off the back where I've got nothing to lose mentality. We're trying to attack pins and get up there with the boys at the top of the leaderboard. 'It's definitely been a breakthrough year, but I think there's more to come.' Schmid made an identical start with birdies on the 10th and 11th and was bogey-free on the tight fairways of Colonial Country Club. 'I would say it was just a very solid round of golf. Started off hot. Had a couple of good breaks on the rough. I gauged the distance right and I just played quality golf from there on,' he said. Rickie Fowler, with just one win in the last six years, put himself in the chasing pack, moving to within five strokes after a six-under 64. 'It's definitely coming around,' he said. 'It's a fine line out here. Nice to see things starting to come together a bit.' Scheffler made the even-par cut at 140 by a single shot while another three-time Major winner, Jordan Spieth, made it on the number. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Mao Saigo emerges from five-woman play-off to win Chevron Championship
Mao Saigo of Japan posing with the trophy after winning The Chevron Championship 2025 in a play-off at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 27 at The Woodlands, Texas. PHOTO: AFP HOUSTON – Mao Saigo of Japan rolled in a five-foot birdie putt to win a historic and chaotic five-woman play-off at the Chevron Championship, capturing her first Major title on April 27 at The Woodlands, Texas. Saigo, who began the day tied for the lead with South Korea's Ryu Hae-ran, carded a two-over 74 at The Club at Carlton Woods, needing birdie at the par-5 18th to advance to the playoff. Saigo, Yin Ruoning of China, Kim Hyo-joo of South Korea, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Lindy Duncan all finished regulation at seven-under 281. It marked the largest play-off group at an LPGA Major in history. Ariya led for most of the day and needed par at the last hole to win outright. However, in a bizarre sequence on her third stroke, she missed nearly her entire ball, which moved very slightly forward. She wound up with a bogey, opening the door for the play-off. The five players returned to the 18th tee. Yin was the only player to hit the green in two shots, but she badly misread the mid-range eagle putt and also lipped out her birdie try. While Duncan ended up with a bogey, Kim and Ariya also missed their birdies. That left Saigo, who went over the green on her second shot and pitched it to about five feet for the winning birdie. 'I was so laser focused and nervous and really in the zone,' Saigo said. 'All I could think of is the ball in front of me. I couldn't see anything else. I was shaking from nervousness, but I did my best to calm down and I shot and it went in.' Saigo, 23, had not won on American soil before April 27. Ranked 37th in the world, her six career victories all came on the LPGA of Japan Tour. 'It was my dream to earn this Major,' Saigo said through a translator. 'It is my first time to win this tournament... and I was able to realise my dream and I'm very happy about this.' Ariya, a two-time Major champion, started the day three off the pace but birdied the second, eagled the par-five fourth and birdied the par-five eighth to shoot up to 10 under. Bogeys at Nos. 9 and 13 pulled her down, but she maintained the lead. Duncan briefly tied her at eight under with birdies at Nos. 13-14 but bogeyed the following two holes. With water protecting the green at No. 18, Ariya hit her second shot over the green and hit it off the base of a grandstand. She was not granted relief because she was not close enough to the structure. That is when she completely missed her ball on her third shot, incurring a stroke. Ariya got the ball on the green in four and missed her par putt, dropping to seven under. At the same time, Yin birdied the 18th to tie Ariya and Kim (in the clubhouse with a 70) for the lead. Later, Ariya said she went to the chipping green while waiting for the play-off. 'At the driving range and chipping green I just can get the feel for the chipping, and didn't really think of the result or anything, just trying to get the feel and work on what I worked on,' she said. 'And still, I still think I had a good chance out there, so just do my best.' In the final group, Saigo and Duncan birdied No. 18 to join the play-off. Duncan was the only player who did not aim for the grandstand. She blew an eagle putt from off the green 10 feet past the hole, but she made the comebacker for birdie. The 34-year-old Duncan was also looking for her first victory – at a Major or otherwise. Saigo was asked what she has in her sights next. 'I still have four more Majors to go, and I want to shoot for No. 1 in the world,' she said. 'I will do my best in the remaining four Majors.' Meanwhile, on the men's side, Americans Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin won their first PGA Tour titles on April 27 by teaming up to capture the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event. They combined to fire a one-under 71 in the April 27 alternate-shot final round to finish on 28-under 260 at TPC Louisiana and defeat Danish twins Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard (68) by one stroke. REUTERS, AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
26-04-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Albatross keeps Yan Liu in front at Chevron Championship
Yan Liu of China plays her shot from the second tee during the second round of The Chevron Championship on April 25. PHOTO: AFP HOUSTON – China's Yan Liu recorded a rare albatross – a three-under score on a hole – and emerged with the lead after the second round of the Chevron Championship on April 25 in The Woodlands, Texas. On the par-five eighth hole at The Club at Carlton Woods, her second shot impressively found the hole. Liu wound up shooting an even-par 72, leaving her at seven-under 137 in the first LPGA Major of the season. She said of her albatross: 'I take my 7-iron and I see the ball (went) in, so that's a really cool thing. But I think (the TV crew doesn't) have video for that hole. Little sad. 'I think I jumped twice on the fairway. Just very happy and so excited. Players in (my) group say congrats to me, so that's very nice.' Four players are tied for second at six under – Lindy Duncan (66), Sarah Schmelzel (68), Japan's Mao Saigo (68) and South Korea's Kim Hyo-joo (71). Angel Yin (70), Belgium's Manon De Roey (71) and South Koreans Choi Hye-jin (71) and Ryu Hae-ran (74) share sixth place at five under. Ryu and Liu were the co-leaders after the opening round. Additionally, China's Zhang Weiwei was five under through 15 holes and five under for the tournament when play was suspended due to darkness. Liu, a 27-year-old who has yet to win an LPGA event, admitted she will feel some pressure entering the weekend. 'I think definitely I will feel a little bit, because this – well, this is Major,' she said. 'I know the course going to be harder, harder, so I think just I just stay patient, calm. Because I'm very emotional person, yes.' World No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda bounced back from a 77 in the first round with a 68, leaving her tied for 46th at one over. Also at one over is world No. 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who shot a second-round 72. In men's golf, Isaiah Salinda holed a late birdie putt as he and Kevin Velo secured a one-shot lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. Salinda and Velo opened the team event with a 58, a tournament record for four-ball (best ball). The action on April 25 was foursomes (alternate shot), and the duo managed a three-under 69 to hang on to the lead at 17-under 127. They were ahead of Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin, who turned in a 66 earlier in the day to get to 16 under. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
China's Liu Yan, South Korea's Ryu Hae-ran share storm-hit LPGA Chevron lead
China's Liu Yan plays her shot from the 11th tee during the first round of The Chevron Championship. PHOTO: AFP HOUSTON – China's Liu Yan and South Korea's Ryu Hae-ran each fired a seven-under 65 to share the lead in the storm-suspended opening round of the LPGA Chevron Championship on April 24. Both Asian standouts had bogey-free starts for 18 holes at Carlton Woods in the year's first women's Major. 'My driver was pretty good, pretty solid,' Liu said. 'Very solid golf today. On the course I'm pretty confident.' Ryu made a putter change that has paid dividends. 'That was amazing,' she said. 'I change the putter and more comfortable for my putting this week... this putter is definitely (better). I make a lot of tricky ones and it's really good for me.' South Korean Kim Hyo-joo was third on 67 with a pack on 68 including her compatriot Choi Hye-jin, American Brooke Matthews, Spain's Carlota Ciganda, Belgium's Manon de Roey and Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn. Play was suspended by a storm late in the day and halted for good an hour later with 24 players unable to finish their first round until April 25. Ryu, the 2023 LPGA Rookie of the Year, is seeking her third tour title and first Major victory. She won the LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship in 2023 and the 2024 FM Championship. The world No. 12's three top-10 finishes in Majors last season included a fifth-place effort at the Chevron. Liu began playing golf with her mother 15 years ago. She is hoping to clinch her first LPGA victory and her best career tour finish was third at the 2023 ShopRite Classic. A 10th-hole starter, the Chinese birdied the 10th and par-three 12th, then opened and closed her second nine with birdies in addition to reeling off three in a row starting at the par-three third. 'I think because my approach shot is pretty good, it's much like long putt,' she added. 'I had like 16 on the green, so every putt is for birdie, so it was pretty key for today's approach shot.' In men's golf, Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo set the four-ball record at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a 14-under 58 to take the first-round lead at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. Playing the best-ball format, the duo were a white-hot 12 under through their first 11 holes – an eagle by Salinda at the par-five seventh and the rest birdies – before slowing down. The team finished with five pars and two birdies over the final seven holes. The scoring record only handed Salinda and Velo a one-shot lead over Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, who turned in a 13-under 59. AFP, REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
