Carnoustie awaits Women's Open field
BY Bruce Young | Ladies European Tour | 2011 Ricoh Womens British Open | Preview | 26 Jul 2011
The focus of women’s golf will be on Carnoustie in Scotland this week when, for the first occasion, the Ricoh Women’s British Open is played at the highly acclaimed layout alongside the North Sea.
The Carnoustie Golf Club unfairly copped a lot of criticism for the manner in which the course was set up for the 1999 Open Championship but that had little to do with the layout itself. That was more a reaction to the ridiculous manner in which the course had been prepared that year rather than the quality of the layout generally considered one of the best of the nine on the British Open rota.
The course regained much of its earlier reputation when Padraig Harrington won the Open played there in 2007.
The world’s leading female golfers will get their chance to experience just why it is held in such high regard this week in what will be their fourth and final major championship of the season.
The event has risen in standard in the last ten years or so by the decision by the Ladies Golf Union to take the championship to most of the leading links courses in Britain. That and the elevation to LPGA status in 1994 and then to major championship status in 2001 have seen the event take on a whole new dimension in that time.
This year the defending champion is Yani Tseng who held off a brave challenge from Katherine Hull at Royal Birkdale last year to win by one over the Australian. Hull withdrew from last week’s Evian Masters and will not take her place in this week’s field.
Tseng took a long time to get going last week in France but she has never really played that course well and will be much better suited this week.
Last week’s winner Ai Miyazato has finished inside the top ten in each of the last two Women’s British Opens and given her success last week she is well placed to at least add another.
Cristie Kerr was a little disappointing last week at the Evian Masters but her form prior was brilliant and she has played this event well enough in the past recording top tens in each of the past three years.
Suzann Pettersen is not far from her best and might just be inspired this week by the horrific events in her country and place of birth Oslo. Pettersen does not however enjoy a good record at this event.
2009 Champion Catriona Matthew and 2008 Champion Jiyai Shin are also in the field and deserve consideration. Matthew is a big event player who handles the tough courses well and they don’t come much tougher than this. She has hardly been spectacular this year but has played well enough.
Shin has been just below her best in recent weeks but she is more than capable of stepping up a notch on a golf course like this.
With Hull’s withdrawal, the Australasians in the field are, three times champion Karrie Webb, Lindsey Wright, Sarah Jane Smith, Karen Lunn, Kristie Smith, Sarah Kemp, Stacey Keating and qualifiers Lynette Brooky and Frances Bondad.
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