Three way tie at ANZ Ladies Masters

BY Bruce Young | ALPG Tour | 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters | Round Two | 09 Feb 2008

Saturday at the ANZ Ladies Masters at Royal Pines is normally reserved for the third round of the event but in a week disrupted by heavy rain and the loss of the opening round on Thursday, this particular Saturday would see players jockeying to be in contention after 36 holes or striving to just make the cut.

As play drew to a close on day two of the A$600,000 event (reduced from $800,000 in 2007) there were three players, Australians Karrie Webb and Tamie Durdin alongside Korean Shin Hyun Ju sharing the lead at eight under. With twenty players within three shots of the lead it promises to be a dogfight tomorrow as those in or near the lead try to establish an early and perhaps winning break.

“That is the effect of three rounds versus four,” said Karrie Webb referring to the congested leaderboard not long after holing a five metre putt at the last to join the leaders at eight under.

Nikki Garrett led into day two but she would not be on the golf course until just after 11.10 in round two. By the time she hit her tee shot at the first she trailed the new leader, Shin Hyn Ju by four shots the Korean off at 7.20 and making the most of the magnificent scoring conditions that presented themselves. Shin was one of the late finishers on day one, threatening the lead with four holes to play but being unable to pick up the extra shot she needed to join Garrett.

Shin is not a long hitter by any stretch of the imagination and that she should be doing so well on what is, essentially, a long hitter’s golf course was a bit of a surprise. She does however possess a very strategic game, playing within her limitations and putting beautifully. Two bogeys in her closing nine holes denied her the chance of establishing a significant lead but at eight under she had joined Australian Tamie Durdin in the lead at eight under.

The 28-year-old Shin has played the Japan Ladies Golf Tour for the past four years and has won twice so being contention is not foreign to her.

“I was disappointed with my two bogeys at the 14th and at the 16th where I three putted but am happy with my score,” said Shin who is playing this event for the first time.

The Queensland based South Australian, Durdin, finished in the group ahead of Shin and she was producing her own heroics. Durdin has often played well in this event and in her post round press conference she was quick to point out that she had remembered being in that very seat the previous year after two rounds. She had been but went on to finish 22nd.

Durdin’s round of 67 today included a double bogey at the 4th after blocking her tee shot right and being forced to take a drop. Despite that hiccup she put together seven birdies in all and as the morning field completed their rounds she and Shin shared the lead at eight under.

Durdin has struggled to get across the line in events and nobody is aware of the fact more than Durdin herself.

“I know I have all the tools and Triggsie (her coach Ian Triggs) tells me I am amongst the top five ball strikers in the world,” she said after her round. “It is a case of the trust and belief issues and I am forever working on trusting myself.”

Durdin gave a good example of her powerful and quality hitting at the last when she smashed her tee shot on damp fairways 290 yards and was left with just a gap wedge. She hit only an average shot in but holed a 20 foot birdie putt for her final birdie and a round of 67.

It appeared that while both Shin and Durdin had been very impressive in their morning rounds, they would likely be run down by the afternoon group who had only just hit of when the leaders were finalising their media commitments. Time would tell and as the wind began to pick up a little it became evident that things might not be quite that straightforward.

Other good rounds amongst the morning players had come from the Swedes Karin Sjodin and Louise Stahle who were round in 67 to be at five and six under respectively. While they may not have made up enough ground to challenge tomorrow they had moved to the edge of contention.

Out on the golf course the two players who were considered to be two of the more likely candidates for victory on Sunday afternoon were slowly but surely moving through the field. Karrie Webb made the turn in 3 under 34 and at that point trailed by two. She added another birdie at the par five 12th to move within one of the lead but missed a good birdie opportunity at 15th and was forced to make two excellent par saves at the 16th and 17th before holing a superb 16 foot birdie putt at the last to join the leaders.

“I did not drive the ball well today,” said Webb. “It improved a little on the back nine but it was not good on the front nine. I might hit a few this afternoon to try and sort it out.”

Webb highlighted the difference in the golf course today than that which she had played in previous years.

“I have been coming here for 16 years so I was told this week and I can’t recall a wind from this direction. It made the last few holes very difficult. I hit a poor tee shot at the 16th trying to knock it down out of the wind but made a good par saving putt three and then hit a seven iron to the 17th (a sand iron in normal wind conditions) and made another up and down for par.”

When asked about her stablemate in the Ian Triggs coaching stable and one of her co-leaders heading into tomorrow, Webb was quick to respond.

“I think Tamie (Durdin) is the biggest underachiever in Australian golf. She has more talent in her little toe than 90 % of the players in this field. This course suits her game and she is a chance tomorrow.”

Ya-Ni Tseng made the turn in two under 35 to be at 6 under and then added another birdie when she hit her approach at the 10th to six feet and converted. She was then at 7 under and within one of the lead. Two holes later she holed a 15 foot birdie putt at the 12th and all of a sudden she had joined Durdin and Shin at eight under. Tseng bogeyed the par four 14th and was unable to improve from there, finishing at seven under and one behind.

Also making a move was the 40-year-old Lisa Hall who won twice on the Ladies European Tour in 2007 and whose career is in the middle of a resurgence. Previously the USLPGA Tour rookie of the year in the mid 1990’s, Hall regained her Ladies European Tour status in 2006 after time away from the game and her season in 2007 suggests she is back and playing very well.

Playing the back nine of the golf course, Hall reached the turn in two under to go with her first round of 68 and was within two of the lead. Hall added a birdie at her 12th – the par five third – when she got up and down from just short of the green but was unable to get the extra birdie she needed to have a share of the 36 hole lead.

Amongst the large group at six under those at sand two back are the 2003 US Amateur Champion, Virada Nirapathpongporn, Louise Stahle, Tania Elosegui, Louise Stahle, Anna Tybring, Carri Wood, Diana D’Alessio and the last player on the course today Marianne Skarpnord who threatened to join the leaders late in the day before a bogey at the 16th hole.

Twelve nationalities are represented within the first twenty players on the leaderboard heading into the final day. Most expect an Australian victory in the form of Karrie Webb but this is still very much anybody’s race.