Texan Holds ‘Em: Stanford’s HSBC Champions Win Ends 14-year American LPGA drought

Angela Stanford ended a wait of fourteen years and four months for an American victory in a LPGA golf event in Asia when she won a four-player play-off at the HSBC Women’s Champions at Singapore’s Tanah Merah Country Club. Tim Maitland reports.

 Stanford won with a par on the third play-off hole, finally knocking Korean teenager Jenny Shin out of the reckoning after Korea’s world number two Na Yeon Choi and China’s Shanshan Feng had been eliminated in two previous trips up the tough 18^th hole. All four had finished on 10-under-par 278 for the tournament.

SINGAPORE - FEBRUARY 26:  Angela Stanford of the USA with the winners trophy after the final round of the HSBC Women's Champions at the Tanah Merah Country Club on February 26, 2012 in Singapore.  (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Amazingly, the last victory for a US player in the LPGA’s long history of staging tournaments in Asia was Juli Inkster’s win at the Samsung World Championship of Women’s Golf, from an invitational field of sixteen LPGA players, in Seoul, South Korea in October 1997. The 2012 HSBC Women’s Champions was the 39^th event in the region since then.

Of the six Asian events on the LPGA’s 2012 schedule, the last to boast an American champion was the Mizuno Classic in Japan which was won by Betsy King in 1993 when it was known as the Toray Japan Queens Cup. King’s win, at the Lions Country Club in Hyogo, was the last US victory against a larger field, over 18 years ago.

“I’m the first American to win in Singapore. That’s pretty cool!” said the thirty-four-year-old Texan, unaware at the time of how long her compatriots’ drought stretched back.

“It’s funny; sitting at the Pro-Am party (on the Wednesday before the tournament) I was thinking we haven’t had an American win this thing yet. Honestly, I thought, well, I’m an American. Might as well give it a go!”

Stanford, whose last win was in 2009, didn’t do it the easy way; only converting the fourth of the putts she had to win the tournament. The cruelest of those was in regulation play after a violent thunderstorm struck with the final group on the 18^th tee and all their rivals safely in the clubhouse. After a 90-minute delay, play resumed with nineteen-year-old Shin leading Stanford by one shot, but the young Korean found a water hazard off the tee and made double bogey, while Stanford’s first chance for victory went begging when she missed a par putt from around five feet.

Making pars throughout the play-off, Stanford adds her name to a roll of honour that consisted only of players to have been rated the best in the world game, from defending champion Karrie Webb through Ai Miyazato and Jiyai Shin to the winner of the inaugural event in 2008, Lorena Ochoa.

“I feel extremely honoured to be in that group of players and to be the first American to get a win is pretty special. Everybody knows this is one of the premier events on tour and always has the best players,” Stanford said.

For Shin, who won the US Girls Junior Championship as a thirteen-year old in 2006, there was the whole range of emotions.

“It’s a little bit of everything; I’m very excited but I’m very disappointed at the same time. The tee shot on the eighteenth was all from nervousness. In the play-off I wasn’t nervous at all. I was really comfortable in the play-off. I really feel like I can do this again. I’m very surprised about how well I did. I’m happy… kind of: happy-sad. I’m accepting it,” she revealed.

Shin’s wasn’t the only hard luck story. China’s Shanshan Feng fell a fraction short of becoming the first player from her country to win an LPGA event, the third time in her short career that she has had to settle for second place.

Current world number one Yani Tseng of Chinese Taipei, who was Jenny Shin’s main challenger for much of the day, finished one shot back in fifth place. She might have won had her approach shot to the 17^th hole gone in for eagle rather than catching the lip of the hole as it span back, leaving her a birdie putt that she missed.

“I do feel disappointed. I just needed a little more luck. I‘ve been very close for two years. Hopefully next year I won’t be disappointed,” said Tseng, who was aiming for back-to-back wins after her victory at the Honda LPGA Thailand the week before.

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Read about "China Golf Firsts"

SINGAPORE - FEBRUARY 22:  (L to R) In Kyung Kim of Korea, Michelle Wie of the USA, Morgan Pressel of the USA, Yani Tseng of Taiwan, Beatriz Recari of Spain, Melissa Reid of England, Suzann Pettersen of Norway, Se Ri Pak of Korea, Paula Creamer of the USA and Natalie Gulbis of the USA during a Welcome Reception Photo Call at the Raffles Hotel prior to the start of the HSBC Women's Champions at the Tanah Merah Country Club on February 22, 2012 in Singapore, Singapore  (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

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WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship all about Tiger Woods

This week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships media conference call with NBC Sports/Golf Channel confirmed that Tiger Woods is still the main attraction when he comes to play in any golf event. His putter may be cold, his demeanor may be disconsolate but when Tiger is in the field, expect golf fans to come out in droves to cheer him on and watch him swing.

 

Sir Nick Faldo, Johnny Miller, Brandel Chamblee and Dan Hicks couldn't stop talking Tiger, whether it was about his putter, his health and whether or not he will ever learn how to win again. Most other golfer comments appeared to be filler if they had nothing to do with the former world's number-one player.

 

I can't say that I blame these four announcers for making Woods the only topic of discussion; Tiger makes for good conversation. He has gone beyond the scope of the sport and, whether or not you are a golf fan, chances are you know who he is and have followed his life and game in some way.

 

The grueling WGC-Accenture match play format will certainly test the mettle of all sixty-four players in the field but the one's who will thrive will be the most accurate putters. Johnny Miller stated, "every single time, you have to have sort of the right mettle to be able to make that five or six footer to halve the hole or win the hole.  That's why usually the really good putters do well in the Match Play."

 

Tiger Woods' putter has been cold at best in his last few events, most recently at Pebble Beach during the AT&T, where a final missed putt on the eighteenth green proved that Woods needs to work more on his short game.

 

Brandel Chamblee said that Woods has gotten "too mechanical".  "When you see someone go from putting stroke picture to talking about a release point on a putter, which I'm not even sure I know what that means, that tells me that they have become mechanical in the whole process."

 

Will Tiger Woods win again? According to Nick Faldo, yes, "but the bottom line is trust, or self belief, self confidence in your ability."

 

Johnny Miller countered. "The more tournaments that he's sniffing on the lead and doesn't pull off, the more scar tissue you get, and you know, the tougher it is to make those putts."

 

Although I'm hoping for a good showing from Tiger Woods due to his previous record at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships, he still is beatable as first round opponent, Gonzalo Fernandez Castano, confirmed in his pre-round interview. As long as players see him as beatable, Woods will not be a true threat until he starts to win with regularity once again.

 

Get your fill of golf television all this week. Catch the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championships on Golf Channel and on NBC Sports. Check your local listings.

 

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photo credit: Stats.com

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