Jiyai Shin wins Women's Australian Open, topping Lydia Ko Yani Tseng

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Jiyai Shin mixed three birdies with two bogeys in her final round at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open.

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Associated Press 

Series: LPGA Tour

CANBERRA, Australia -- South Korea's Jiyai Shin won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open by two shots Sunday, finishing with a 1-under 72 to beat world No. 1 Yani Tseng after being tied for the overnight lead with teenage star Lydia Ko.

Shin mixed three birdies with two bogeys on the par-73 Royal Canberra layout in a final-round showdown with Ko and Tseng of Taiwan, and added the Australian title to her two British Opens among 37 professional victories.

Ko's share of the lead evaporated quickly when she began the final day with a double bogey and bogey. However, the 15-year-old who was born in South Korea and is based in New Zealand fought back to reclaim the joint lead after 13 holes before Shin dismissed the challenge.

Shin effectively clinched her victory on the 14th hole when, tied with Ko at 16 under, she holed an incredible pitch from deep rough behind an advertising billboard to make birdie.

''I'm really surprised,'' Shin said. ''There are so many good players here, so I'm really happy to play well. I can't explain at the moment. I just feel excited.''

Ko finished 3 over for the day and 14 under for the tournament, in outright third place. She was trying for back-to-back wins in professional tournaments after winning last week's New Zealand Women's Open.

Ko has won three professional tournaments in the last 13 months, taking the New South Wales Open to become the youngest winner of a professional event, then winning the CN Canadian Open to become the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour. She struggled to overcome her poor start Sunday and was never able to comfortably settle into her final round.

''I had a few struggles with my drives but, I can't play good every single round,'' Ko said. ''Third in a professional event is a pretty good result and I can't say I'm not fully pleased.''

Meanwhile, Tseng shot the best round of the last day -- a 7-under 66 -- to dash past Ko into second place, two shots behind Shin.

''I was always feeling good here and I tried my best today,'' Tseng said. ''I got some pretty good lucky bounces, too. I didn't drive as well as the last few days, but I got some good bounces, some good kicks on the fairway, hit a tree, bounced on the fairway so it's kind of really lucky.''

Darren Fichardt taking it easy for Tshwane Open, played 10 minutes from home

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Darren Fichardt comes into the Tshwane Open fresh off a brief family break after his fourth European Tour title at the Africa Open.

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Series: European Tour

CENTURION, South Africa -- For his eighth tournament in eight weeks, Darren Fichardt is understandably taking things a bit easier than normal ahead of the European Tour’s inaugural Tshwane Open, which gets underway on Thursday.

"The Els Club Copperleaf is 10 minutes from my home, so it's really great to sleep in my own bed during tournament week," said Fichardt who won the Africa Open in East London on Feb. 17.

The tournament, which is co-sanctioned with southern Africa’s Sunshine Tour, is the latest such event to be played in South Africa, and victory for Fichardt would make him the first player since Branden Grace burst on to the scene to win two consecutive European Tour events.

"After so many tournaments in a row, I'm not hitting as many balls on the range in preparation for this week," said Fichardt. "It's great to have a European Tour event in my home town.

"There's been a really nice swing of tournaments in South Africa, so hopefully I can finish it off nicely. I'm sure all the guys are really going to enjoy playing at Copperleaf," he added. "It's designed by Ernie and is in very good condition, especially the greens which are unbelievable. It's also very long, so to have a good week you're going to need your driver to perform well.

"As it's quite an exposed course, there's normally a little bit of wind to keep you on your toes. It's definitely going to be hot and humid and with a pretty high chance of some thunderstorms, so there could be a few weather disruptions," he explained. "But I'm sure it's going to be a great week and I'll have some friends and family coming along, so hopefully I can give them something to shout about."

His victory in East London was Fichardt's fourth European Tour title after holding off compatriot Jaco van Zyl and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy to prevail by two strokes. He followed up that victory with a top-10 finish behind Van Zyl in last week's Dimension Data Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour, and so is understandably confident of continuing his fine form.

And a lot of that form has been shown on the greens: His putting has been pretty impressive.

"It takes a lot of pressure off the rest of your game," he said. "You don't have to try and get your iron shots so close to the pin, and that helps if they're in tough positions."

That putting could be very useful on the 7,791-yard Copperleaf layout: While he is 71st in driving distance (289.4 yards) on the European Tour, he is ninth in putts per greens in regulation (1.691) – only Garth Mulroy in the field is ahead of him in that count. He also averages 6.35 one-putts per round.

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Posted Jan 27, 2014

Garrett DowningBaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer@Ravens All Garrett Downing Articles



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