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The Star Online: Sports

Golf: Rookie Thompson sets pace in Georgia as Simpson lurks
Na-yeon leads but five others still in the running for the crown
Chong Wei exits local circuit after winning 10th national title

Golf: Rookie Thompson sets pace in Georgia as Simpson lurks

Posted: 15 Oct 2011 05:10 PM PDT

PGA Tour rookie Michael Thompson moved one shot clear after Saturday's third round of the McGladrey Classic at St Simons Island in Georgia while fellow American Webb Simpson stayed in the hunt for his third victory of the year. Thompson fired a three-under-par 67 on another breezy day at the Sea Island Resort to overhaul second-round pacesetter Billy Horschel and post a 13-under total of 197.

American Horschel, a stroke in front of Thompson with three holes to play, doubled-bogeyed the 16th after dumping his tee shot into water on the way to a 70 as he ended the day in second place at 12 under.

Simpson, who has won twice in his last five starts and has a chance to beat world number one Luke Donald of Britain to the PGA Tour money-list title, was a further stroke back after carding a 69.

"My caddie and I had a tough time reading the greens," Simpson told reporters after mixing three birdies with two bogeys. "I gave myself plenty of opportunities but the greens, as we get late into the week, are getting tough to putt.

"The goal for today was just to give ourselves a chance to win tomorrow. We hung in there and stayed in the golf tournament. That's all you can ask."

Simpson trails money-list leader Donald by $68,971 and both are scheduled to compete in next week's season-ending Disney Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Thompson, who has recorded just one top-10 finish on the PGA Tour after 23 starts this season, was delighted to be in position to claim a breakthrough victory.

"I've just got to try to hit solid golf shots tomorrow," said the 26-year-old who lipped out with a nine-foot birdie putt at the last that would have given him a two-stroke lead.

"I was kind of struggling coming down the stretch there but tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to enjoy it."

Former U.S. Masters champion Trevor Immelman equalled the course record with a sizzling 62 to finish level with Simpson at 11 under. "That's always going to help your round," South African Immelman said after covering his last five holes in six under.

"I played real well today, drove the ball well, hit some nice iron shots and made some putts. It really was a fun day." -Reuters

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Na-yeon leads but five others still in the running for the crown

Posted: 15 Oct 2011 04:25 PM PDT

THE Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia is heading for an exciting finish with at least six players in the running for the winner's cheque of US$285,000 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club today.

But South Korea's world number four Choi Na-yeon is probably the most determined golfer out there in the 72-woman field to accomplish that goal.

Yesterday, Na-yeon overcame a three-hour rain delay to shoot a third round score of four-under 67 for a 12-under 201, giving her a one shot lead going into today's final round.

American Brittany Lang, who was the overnight joint leader with Stacy Lewis, dropped to second after a 69 for a 202 total.

Azahara Munoz of Spain shot a three-under 68 to move into third place at 10-under 203 while Lewis tumbled to a one-over 72 to fall into a share of fourth place with Pak Se-ri of South Korea (65) and world number one Tseng Yani (69) of Taiwan at 205.

For Na-yeon, it is the first time this season that she is leading in an LPGA event going into the final round.

Na-yeon, who is still searching for her first win of the year, said her turning point in yesterday's round came after she birdied the ninth and 10th holes.

"My putter was really cold in the beginning. But after I got my birdie on the ninth and 10th, I started to get some momentum.

"I played very well. I'm very satisfied today. I'm very excited to be in the lead and I'm going forward to the final round," said the Korean, who felt she could have done better if not for the weather interruption.

"The delay bothered me. I know we can't control the weather, so I have to accept it," said Na-yeon.

Munoz is also looking to end her drought on the LPGA Tour. Like Na-yeon, she was also a bit unhappy with the three-hour stoppage.

"It was just a mess. Thank God we finished. I'm just happy we got the job done.

"It is a crowded leaderboard, so it should be interesting tomorrow.

"I'm really excited. I'm just going to go out there and try to enjoy it, one shot at a time and see what happens," said Munoz.

Third round scores

201: Choi Na-yeon (Kor) 66-68-67;

202: Brittany Lang (US) 66-67-69;

203: Azahara Munoz (Spa) 67-68-68;

205: Pak Se-ri (Kor) 72-68-65, Stacy Lewis (US) 68-65-72, Tseng Yani (Tpe) 69-67-69;

206: Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 68-69-69;

207: Paula Creamer (US) 71-67-69;207: Michelle Wie (US) 68-68-71;

208: Kim In-kyung (Kor) 68-68-72;

209: Sandra Gal (Ger) 72-70-67;

210: Angela Stanford (US) 71-71-68, Amanda Blumenherst (US) 70-69-71, Dewi Claire Schreefel (Ned) 66-68-76;

211: Feng Shanshan (Chn) 68-73-70, Caroline Hedwall (Swe) 72-70-69, Melissa Reid (Eng) 72-71-68, Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 79-67-65;

212: Shin Jiyai (Kor) 70-69-73, Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 72-68-72, Paige Mackenzie (US) 67-74-71, Julieta Granada (Par) 70-71-71, Christel Boeljon (Ned) 68-73-71, Natalie Gulbis (US) 71-71-70, Chella Choi (Kor) 74-70-68, Candie Kung (Tpe) 70-76-66, Amy Yang (Kor) 69-69-74;

213: Sun Youn-soo (Kor) 70-71-72, Hee Ji-eun (Kor) 72-69-72, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 66-76-71, Jenny Shin (Kor) 71-71-71, Mika Miyazato (Jpn) 74-70-69, Kim Mi-hyun (Kor) 72-70-71;

214: Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 71-72-71, Katie Futcher (US) 69-70-75, Morgan Pressel (US) 71-71-72, Jennifer Song (US) 74-67-73, Frances Bondad (Aus) 70-73-71;

215: Catriona Matthew (Sco) 70-69-76, Christina Kim (US) 75-69-71, Mina Harigae (US) 74-70-71;

216: Kang Jimin (Kor) 69-72-75, Brittany Lincicome (US) 75-68-73, Wendy Ward (US) 77-68-71, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 73-74-69;

217: Amy Hung (Tpe) 72-69-76, Mindy Kim (US) 69-73-75, Pat Hurst (US) 74-69-74, Meena Lee (Kor) 74-70-73, Cindy Lacrosse (US) 74-71-72, Karrie Webb (Aus) 74-72-71;

218: Laura Davies (Eng) 74-72-72, Park Hee-young (Kor) 74-71-73, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 69-77-72;

219: Cristie Kerr (US) 72-72-75;

220: Karen Stupples (Eng) 74-73-73, Vicky Hurst (US) 76-74-70;

221: Beatriz Recari (Spa) 73-73-75, Porani Chutichai (Tha) 75-72-74, Katherine Hull (Aus) 76-72-73;

222: Kristy McPherson (US) 73-78-71;

223: Gerina Piller (US) 75-70-78;

224: Kelly Tan (a-Mas) 77-73-74;

225: Aretha Pan (a-Mas) 75-76-74;

226: Juli Inkster (US) 76-75-75;

227: Jean Chua (Mas) 76-78-73, Han Hee-won (Kor) 75-74-78;

231: Ryan O'Toole (US) 82-75-74;

233: Tanaporn Kongkiatkrai (Tha) 80-76-77, Ainil Johani Bakar (Mas) 76-80-77;

236: Tiffany Joh (US) 80-77-79.

FINAL ROUND TEE-OFF TIMES

From Tee 1

7.10am: Momoko Ueda, Frances Bondad, Morgan Pressel;

7.21am: Maria Hjorth, Hee Ji-eun, Sun Young-soo;

7.32am: Mika Miyazato, Kim Mi-hyun, Jenny Shin;

7.43am: Ai Miyazato, Shin Jiyai, Amy Yang;

7.54am: Julieta Granada, Christel Boeljon, Paige Mackenzie;

8.05am: Candie Kung, Chella Choi, Natalie Gulbis;

8.16am: Melissa Reid, Caroline Hedwall, Feng Shanshan;

8.27am: Amanda Blumenherst, Dewi Claire Schreefel;

8.38am: Kim In-kyung, Sandra Gal, Angela Stanford;

8.49am: Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie;

9.00am: Pak Se-ri, Tseng Yani, Stacy Lewis;

9.11am: Choi Na-yeon, Brittany Lang, Azahara Munoz.

From Tee 10

7.10am: Jennifer Song, Katie Futcher, Christina Kim;

7.21am: Mina Harigae, Catriona Matthew, Pornanong Phatlum;

7.32am: Wendy Ward, Brittany Lincicome, Kang Jimin;

7.43am: Karrie Webb, Cindy Lacrosse, Meena Lee;

7.54am: Pat Hurst, Mindy Kim, Amy Hung;

8.05am: Laura Davies, Sophie Gustafson, Park Hee-young;

8.16am: Cristie Kerr, Vicky Hurst, Karen Stupples;

8.27am: Kyeong Bae, Katherine Hull, Porani Chutichai;

8.38am: Beatriz Recari, Kristy McPherson, Gerina Piller;

8.49am: Kelly Tan (am), Aretha Pan (am), Juli Inkster;

9.00am: Jean Chua, Han Hee-won, Ryan O'Toole;

9.11am: Tanaporn Kongkriatkrai, Ainil Johani Bakar, Tiffany Joh.

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Chong Wei exits local circuit after winning 10th national title

Posted: 15 Oct 2011 04:24 PM PDT

PETALING JAYA: World number one Lee Chong Wei exited the local badminton circuit in style yesterday.

The 29-year-old picked up his record 10th national title, easily beating Goh Soon Huat 21-11, 21-5 in the final of the National Circuit Grand Prix Finals at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara.

The 21-year-old Soon Huat, in his first final appearance of the GP Finals, seemed nervous and hardly gave Chong Wei a fight.

With the win, Chong Wei will now focus all his attention on winning the gold in next year's London Olympics. He had vowed not to play in any more local tournaments if he picked up his 10th national title.

"The Olympic preparation will be my main focus from now on. I hope that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will understand and respect my decision," said Chong Wei.

"Having been on top for so long, I believe it is time to give the younger players such as (Liew) Daren, Mohd Arif (Abdul Latif) and (Chong) Wei Feng a chance to prove their worth," added Chong Wei, who left for Odense last night to compete in the Denmark Open.

Meanwhile in the men's doubles event, the scratch combination of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Ong Soon Hock capitalised on their experience to beat Mohd Lufti Zaim-Vountus Indra Mawan 19-21, 21-15, 21-19 in the final.

In the women's singles, Lydia Cheah finally ended her bridesmaid's role as she scored a sensational 21-14, 21-17 victory over defending champion Tee Jing Yi for her first national crown.

It was Lydia's first win in five final appearances – the first back in 2005.

"I'm very happy to have finally won after five attempts. It is a great confidence boost for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain this level of performance when I go to Jakarta for the SEA Games next month and win a medal," said Lydia.

In the women's doubles, fast-rising Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo had to battle from a game down to overcome Chin Eei Hui-Goh Liu Ying 17-21, 21-15, 21-15.

Khe Wei's bid for a second title failed to materialise. She and Tan Wee Kiong lost 15-21, 14-21 to Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying in the mixed doubles final.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 15 Oktober 2011