Rain won't dampen 7th title bid for Webb

BY Bruce Young | ALPG Tour | 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters | Preview | 05 Feb 2008

The possibility of getting all 72 holes completed at the 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters appears in jeopardy as the Gold Coast’s worst summer in many years takes its toll on the 19th staging of the event at Royal Pines Resort in Australia’s tourist playground.

“We are proceeding with the pro am tomorrow,” said tournament organiser Bob Tuohy on Tuesday afternoon. “We feel with so many people committed to that particular event we should at least attempt to get it under way and see how many holes we can get in. We will though bring tee times forward by half an hour on day one of the tournament itself on Thursday with our initial goal to get at least 18 holes of tournament play completed by Friday and then take our chances from there.”

The weather has been so wet that competitors will only get their first glimpse of the Royal Pines layout in Wednesday’s pro am but that too may be dependent on mother nature as the forecast over the next two days is hardly encouraging.

One player who will not be adversely affected by limited preparation is the six time winner Karrie Webb, who arrives here off the back of a spine tingling finish at last week’s MFS Australian Women’s Open where she came from two behind with three to play to win in a playoff over Shin Ji-Yai.

As a player who has been involved in more competitive rounds than any other golfer since she first appeared in this event in 1993, Webb has little concern regarding the fact that she will not get onto the golf course before tomorrow’s pro am.

When asked how she felt about the manner in which she finished off the Australian Open last week Webb was a little emotional. A journalist asked if she felt how Greg Norman had felt when he shot a last round of 63 to win the British Open in 1993 and said later that he was ‘in awe of himself’ to which she responded.

“I couldn’t use those words about myself but I was very excited.”

Without specifically stating so it was clear there was a lot of pride in Webb’s voice as she recounted the almost superhuman effort to chase down the leader and win in a playoff.

“My golf over those last few holes and in the playoff was almost Annika Sorenstam like,” she said referring to the machine like precision of her play both in terms of her accuracy and distance control.

“I don’t really even have the answer to how I was able to do it as if I did I would be able to tap into every time.”

Webb has spent some quality family and relaxation time in North Queensland over the past few weeks and only began to work hard on her game in the two weeks leading into the Australian Open.

“I bought myself a place in Townsville as I figured the prices in Townsville were going through the roof and I needed to get into the market.”

“Even though I love my parents to death five or six weeks at home with them is hard so it will be good to have my own place to entertain my family and nieces as both my sisters have daughters now.”

Webb spent time with both her swing coach Ian Triggs and mind coach Noel Blundell in recent weeks as she worked on further improvement in her fine golf swing and reminding herself of the importance of enjoying herself. She had reached a stage late in 2007, as she had also done late in 2005 whereby there was no enjoyment on the golf course but judging by her late rally last week she is very much in tune both mentally and physically with her game.

Shin Ji-Yai spoke to the media and was quick to point out that she was not unhappy about the result last week in Melbourne where Webb had come from behind to beat her.

“I played very well and was beaten by a great player,” she said.

In a light hearted moment, however, Shin added that if she was beaten again by Webb this week in this event she might not be quite so happy.

“I finished runner up to her last year at this event and last week in Melbourne so three times might not be so good.”

It was very much tongue in cheek but the 19 year old is no doubt keen to reverse the roles this week.

Ai Miyazato finished runner up to Karrie Webb in this event three years ago and after time with her coaches in Arizona the Los Angeles based Japanese star is ready to perform well again.

A superstar of the game in Japan prior to gaining her USLPGA Tour card, Miyazato is slowly finding her feet in the US under the pressure of Japanese and probably her own expectations. The rain around this week is not expected to assist her in her quest to secure her first victory outside of Japan this week but her class will take her a long way.

There are several others who could be considered good chances to do well this week although surprisingly Lindsey Wright, who did so well last week in Melbourne is not one of them. Wright has decided to take this week off in preparation for a series of LPGA Tour events and she felt that by playing this week it would too many tournaments in succession.

The Australian flag therefore might well be flown by the likes of Katherine Hull, Sarah Kemp, Nikki Campbell, Rachel Hetherington, Joanne Mills, Tamie Durdin and Nikki Garrett. Campbell finished 5th in this event two years ago and Hetherington has been runner up previously and other than Webb is Australia’s most credentialed player.

Amy Yang won this event two years ago in the most brilliant fashion and arrives at Royal Pines off the back of a brilliant finish last Sunday in Melbourne where she birdied the final three holes to finish fourth. Her length from the tee and her obvious comfort zone with Royal Pines will stand her in good stead on the waterlogged layout this week.

Others who must be considered are three-time Ladies Masters winner, Laura Davies, the exciting Melissa Reid and a player overlooked in discussion, Tseng Ya Ni, who has the equal course record at Royal Pines and is now an LPGA Tour member having gained her card at the Tour School late last year. Tseng has finished 5th and 3rd in her last two starts in this event and is considered by many to be a rising star of the game.

Reid impressed all those who saw her last week in Melbourne. The golf swing she possesses has her heading for a successful professional career and she showed late week that she has the game to compete with the elite of the game.

For all of the players, the biggest hurdle they will need to overcome this week is the very indifferent weather that the Gold Coast is currently experiencing.