2013 Golf Chic (pdf version) - Ladies European Tour

Easily though Shin won, there were other performancesto savour. South Korean born Kiwi Lydia Ko took theSmyth Salver as leading amateur in a share of 17thposition at nine-over-par.Ko shot to fame when she won the NSW Open lastyear as a 14 year old. She also won the ISPS HandaNew Zealand Women’s Open in February 2013 aged15, becoming the youngest winner on the LET and willdefinitely be one to watch.Park will undoubtedly by another player to monitor atSt Andrews, having closed out two victories and wonthe Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average (70.21)on the LPGA last season.As for the Americans, look to Paula Creamer, who camethrough the pack to third position with a cluster of birdiesand an eagle in a final round 72 at Royal Liverpool. StacyLewis, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome and BrittanyLang are also likely to be in the hunt.The 2013 championship will be the final chance forEuropean and American players to earn points towardsThe Solheim Cup and the teams will be announced onthe evening of Sunday 4th August, so there is bound tobe an enormous buzz around St Andrews, before bothteams descend on Colorado Golf Club two weeks later.There is no doubt that the Ricoh Women’s British Open isa leading event in women’s professional golf and it hasbeen classified a Major since 2001, with title sponsorRicoh committed to the event until at least 2016.This is a prime opportunity for fans of women’s golf towatch the world’s best women golfers in action and bepart of history. With the event covered live on the BBC,there is no excuse for missing a shot!With a new generation of Curtis Cup winners on the professionalcircuit, we could see an unexpected champion. Holly Clyburn, EmilyTaylor, Charley Hull and Pamela Pretswell are amongst the Britonswho will be rookies on the Ladies European Tour.Britain’s all-time great Laura Davies will be desperate for that fifthMajor that would take her into America’s Hall of Fame and what afitting victory it would be for the 81-time tournament champion,who almost single-handedly changed the profile of women’s golf inthe United Kingdom.The current World No.1 Yani Tseng of Chinese Taipei will betargeting a hat-trick of titles having won the championship atRoyal Birkdale and Carnoustie in 2010 and 2011 respectively.2012 saw the Ricoh Women’s British Open played for the first timeat Royal Liverpool and Shin impressively tamed the wild conditionsto claim her second career Major, following her fair weather victoryat the 2008 championship at Sunningdale.Having been out of the game for two months with hand surgery,Shin earned an incredible nine stroke victory, the largest winningmargin in the history of the championship, with rounds of 71-64-71-73 for a nine under par total of 279.After a week interrupted by weather delays and the loss of a day’splay on Friday due to high winds, the 24-year-old Shin finished thejob with an up and down from the back of the 18th green in fadinglight to end nine clear of fellow South Korean Inbee Park.South Korea’s Ya Neon Choi, the United States’ Stacy Lewis andChina’s Shanshan Feng will be amongst the challengers, as will thedefending champion, Jiyai Shin.Inbee ParkThe 2012 champion Jiyai Shin4849