Birdie and Gulbis Ousted, Annika Survives Round 1
Number 1 seeded, Annika Sorenstam needed 17 holes to defeat the 64th seeded Joanne Morley in the first round of the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship, at Hamilton Farm, New Jersey. Annika started off slow tying the first 6 holes and then went one down when Morley birdied the par 3 7th. Annika quickly squared the match with a birdie on 8. Annika won the 13th hole with a par and the 15th hole with a birdie. Morely ended up running out of holes and lost 2 & 1.
US Women’s Open Champion and No. 6 seed Birdie Kim lost her first round match to Sophie Gustafson, the 59th seed, one down. Kim battled back to get the match all square with a birdie on the 15th hole, but lost the match when Gustafson birdied the 18th hole.
No. 5 seeded Natalie Gulbis was unable to maintain her momentum from the US Women’s Open and lost her first round match against 60th seed Marisa Baena. Gulbis birdied the first hole to get a quick 1up lead, but gave that lead back with a bogey on the 5th. Gublis then birdied the 6th to retain her 1up lead. On the 10th, Gulbis gave back her 1up lead with a bogey. On the 11th, Baena and Gulbis tied the hole with birdies. Tying holes 12-17 with pars, the match was tied going into the 18th hole. Baena, then birdied the 18th to win the match 1up, ending Gulbis’s quest for the second richest purse on the LPGA tour.
Overall, the lower seed (the supposed better player) won 15 of the 32 matches, which shows some of the parity in women’s golf. Also, Lorena Ochoa, the 3 seed, lost her match 2 & 1 to Laurie Rinker.
It should be an interesting tournament, the second round matches can be found, here.
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