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PGA Tour Confidential: Women's British Open, Greenbrier Classic

Every week of the 2011 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation in the comments section below.

TIGER RETURNS
Gorant: Okay, Tiger returns this week at Bridgestone. What can we expect?

Morfit: A lot of rust.

Lipsey: He won't miss the cut.

Wei: He'll beat last year's four-day total of 18-over.

Evans: This is a no-cut event, and he gets to play on a golf course that he has ruled in the past. I think he shoots 280 and finishes four or five strokes off the winning score.

Morfit: I think that prediction is completely bonkers. I hope you are right.

Evans: It's a prediction.

Godich: Flashes of brilliance, maybe even a nine-hole run at the end of a round that will have many pronouncing that Tiger is back! In the end, more missed short putts that he never used to miss and a T28.

Herre: I thought you'd never ask! I have a feeling Woods is going to come out strong, but the question is, can he put together four good rounds? I see him going low at least once, which will get everyone talking, but will the consistency be there for him to contend? Probably not.

Hack: I just don't know what's what with Tiger anymore, as if anyone ever did. Has he hit one bucket of balls or 1,000? Is it the knee, the Achilles or both? Does he even burn to be the world-beater he once was? The man could win by five, lose by 25, or finish somewhere in between, and I'll just stand back and say, well, of course he did.
Godich: I'll be most interested to see what he's doing on the practice range.

Lipsey: I hope they pair Tiger with Adam Scott.

Wei: Throw in Jim Furyk, too.

Gorant: Do we believe that Tiger is really 100 percent, or were there other things that led to his seemingly sudden decision to return this week?

Godich: No way he's 100 percent. But I think he wanted a tune-up before the PGA to get the rust off. That said, he's got to play 72 holes, no matter how badly he might be hurting. Can you imagine the reaction if he WDs again?

Evans: Tiger will never be 100 percent. I doubt if he sees that as a goal. I think what he wants is to learn how to simply put four good rounds together.

Godich: Who would've thunk someone would be suggesting something like that about Tiger in, say, the summer of 2009?

Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2086098,00.html#ixzz1TrSMRRnR

Partner : Exercise HQ

Stallings wins Greenbrier Classic in playoff

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — Scott Stallings made a birdie on the final hole to qualify for a three-way playoff, then sprinted in excitement toward the 18th tee and showed he could repeat the feat on the first extra hole.

The PGA Tour rookie sank a 7-footer for birdie on the 168-yard hole to win the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday, beating Bob Estes and Bill Haas.

After watching Estes and Haas miss longer birdie attempts on the first extra hole, Stallings curled in his putt for his first tour victory. He flipped his putter, then hugged and high-fived his caddie.

"To be a champion in such a great event is a huge blessing," Stallings said.

The 26-year-old Stallings is the 10th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year and the sixth rookie to do it.
"I've wanted to do this since I was a little kid," Stallings said. "I was that little boy running around chasing autographs and yelling at guys because they wouldn't stop and sign my golf balls."

Stallings overcame a tough start and made six birdies on the back nine to gain the playoff, where he earned a winner's check worth $1.08 million and a spot in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Stallings said he was more excited about moving from 88th to 26th on the FedEx Cup points list.

A native of Worchester, Mass., and die-hard Red Sox fan, he'll likely realize one of his biggest goals to play in the Deutsch Bank Championship, the second stop in the FedEx Cup playoffs outside of Boston. The top 100 in the points standings after the Barclays, the first playoff stop, will qualify.

It marked the second straight week that a tournament was won in sudden death. Sean O'Hair beat Kris Blanks on the first playoff hole a week ago at the Canadian Open.

In just its second year, the Greenbrier Classic produced another dramatic finish. Stuart Appleby shot 59 in last year's final round, including a birdie on the last hole to beat Jeff Overton by a stroke.

Estes and Haas each earned $528,000. Haas earned his fourth top-10 finish of the season and improved to 12th in the FedEx standings.

The 45-year-old Estes missed out on his first tour win since 2002 and fifth overall. Estes sat out the first three months of the year with a wrist injury and was playing in just his seventh tournament.

Estes, playing with a respiratory illness, shot 6-under 64 and was the clubhouse leader at 10 under, then found out Haas birdied the par-5 17th six groups later to join him after a 67.

Stallings, who shot 69, waited a half hour on the 17th tee and bogeyed the par-5 after his drive went out of bounds. He needed a birdie at No. 18 to make the playoff. He sank a 5-footer to do it.

After signing his scorecard, Stallings made his impromptu sprint and said later he wasn't too winded for the playoff.

Injured Woods in doubt for British Open

(CNN) -- Former world number one Tiger Woods insists he will not rush his recovery from a knee injury, casting doubt over the 14-time major champion's participation in next month's British Open.

Woods has not played since he withdrew from the Players Championship in May, and is a doubt for golf's oldest major -- which is due to start at Royal St. George's in England on July 14.

The American has been hampered by injuries since he returned to the sport following problems in his personal life and a self-imposed exile from the sport in early 2010.

"I'm setting no timetable, which is very different for me," the 35-year-old told the PGA Tour's official web site.

"I've played hurt before. I've played through injuries, I've played in pain. Unfortunately I pushed it too hard and hurt myself, and this time around I'm not going to do that again."

Now ranked 17th, he has not claimed one of golf's four major championships since the 2008 U.S. Open, when he played on despite breaking his leg, and last won a tournament at the 2009 Australian Masters.

"All the years of playing when my knee wasn't very good and playing through it, unfortunately I broke my leg and still played," said Woods.

Despite his loss of form and slide down the world rankings, Woods is still confident in his ability to beat Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major wins.

"He won when he was 46, right? I've still got some time. I'm 35, I'm not 65. I've still got some years ahead of me. Golf is unlike any other sport," Woods said.

He cited Tom Watson's performance at the 2009 British Open, where the veteran American lost out in a playoff for the Claret Jug to compatriot Stewart Cink, as an example of how age is not necessarily a barrier to success.

"I mean, Watson was, what, 59 years old when he almost won? We can play for a very long time."

read more - http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/golf/06/29/golf.tiger.woods.open/

Panasonic Open 2011

After a week’s break, the Asian Tour’s voyage returns to India again and this time, the spotlight is on the inaugural Panasonic Open (India). For the second time in three weeks, the region’s top players will compete at the Delhi Golf Club in their quest for glory at the Asian Tour’s newest US$300,000 event. Here is a look at the genuine contenders likely to make an impression at the Delhi Golf Club.

Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
Randhawa created history when he became the first Indian to win the prestigious Asian Tour Order of Merit title in 2002. The powerful Indian finished in seventh place at the SAIL Open last week and will be eager to get back to his winning ways next week at the Delhi Golf Club, which he has triumphed on numerous occasions on the Asian Tour.

Siddikur (Ban)
Siddikur narrowly missed out on his second Asian Tour at the Delhi Golf Club and will be hoping to make amends this week. As the first professional golfer from Bangladesh to win an Asian Tour title, don’t rule him out from creating another impression again.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind)
Bhullar, who has two Asian Tour victories, hopes to add a third win on home soil after a enjoying solid start to the season where he has won three titles in India and one in Bangladesh since the beginning of the year. The young talent has been touted as the next big star from India and could well justify that tag with another commanding performance at the Delhi Golf Club.

Scott Hend (Aus)
Big-hitting Australian Scott Hend will be hoping to stamp his class after enjoying three top-10s last season on the Asian Tour. The Australian topped the driving average list at the Asian Tour Awards Gala last season with a driving average of 309 yards and could be in contention at the Delhi Golf Club.

Points of Interest at Panasonic Open, India

The players and public can make donations to the Great East Earthquake Relief funds at strategically located donation boxes around the venue during the event.

A tree will be donated and planted at Delhi Golf Club for every birdie made by the players during the week of the event.

Experience 3D screens by Panasonic and STAND A CHANCE TO WIN DAILY LUCKY DRAW PRIZES.

Read More: http://4moles.com/cmstournaments/show/139-panasonic-open-2011

Nicklaus says Tiger's slump will end

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jack Nicklaus doubts his lead in career Grand Slam titles will last - he figures it's just a matter of time before Tiger Woods' slump ends.

Woods hasn't won a tournament since he became immersed in a sex scandal in November 2009, and he's stalled at 14 major titles, four shy of Nicklaus' record.

"I still think he'll break my record," Nicklaus said Wednesday before playing a round in the Honda Classic pro-am. "I'm surprised that he has not bounced back by now. He's got such a great work ethic. He's so determined to what he wants to do."

Nicklaus said he hasn't talked to Woods since last June, and that conversation was brief.

"He got maybe off the track, but I think he's really a principled kid," Nicklaus said. "Did he have some wayward ... ? Yes. But are we all perfect? No."

Woods isn't playing Honda, a tournament he has skipped every year since 1993. Last week, he was eliminated in the first round of the Match Play Championship, and he has failed to crack the top 20 in his three tournaments this year.

SI GOLF+ PGA Tour Confidential: The state of the Tour; Tiger; favorite Tour stops and more

SI GOLF+ convened a fivesome of veteran PGA Tour players — Ben Crane, Steve Flesch, J.J. Henry, Davis Love III and Ted Purdy — plus SI senior writer Gary Van Sickle to answer those and other questions

State of The Tour

Van Sickle: The PGA Tour has turned up some new sponsors in a tough economy. Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the Tour's future?

Flesch: It's more than just the PGA Tour. In the grand scheme of things commissioner Tim Finchem has done well to maintain 95 sponsors—45 on the PGA Tour and 25 or so each on the Champions and Nationwide tours. That's pretty darn good.

Crane: Considering the economy, I couldn't be happier.

Love: If you looked at the PGA Tour without looking at the economy, you'd say we're struggling a bit. Based on the economy, you'd say we're kicking butt. When you consider all the car companies and financial institutions that had bankruptcies and were tournament sponsors, to fill in all those blanks and not go backward is a miracle.

Henry: It says a lot about our product and the character of our players that we're fully sponsored in a down period and have kept purses up. I'm very optimistic. Especially seeing the stock market back around 12,000.

Purdy: Before the FedEx Cup it took about $600,000 [in earnings] to keep your Tour card. The first year of the FedEx Cup it took $875,000. Even though I finished 127th and missed my card by a few thousand dollars, I thought Finchem was brilliant. Then we had this down economy, and the 125th spot went back to $600,000. So I'm still optimistic, but we are losing playing opportunities for the Tour's lower third of the players—and that's my category now.

CME Group to sponsor LPGA season-ender

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The LPGA Tour has signed a three-year deal with CME Group to be the title sponsor of its season-ending Titleholders tournament in Florida.

CME Group has been involved with the LPGA Tour by hosting pro-am events and sponsoring the Solheim Cup. The title sponsorship gives the LPGA a big boost in a sagging economy, particularly with such a marquee event.

The Titleholders is the new name for its Tour Championship, to be played Nov. 17-20 at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando. It features a unique criteria for its 75-player field, with the top three finishers from all 25 LPGA events qualifying for the season finale.

Pappas wins Bogota Open

BOGOTA (AP) — Brenden Pappas won the Bogota Open on Sunday when lightning wiped out the third round, reducing the Nationwide Tour event to 36 holes.

The 40-year-old South African had rounds of 67 and 66 to finish at 9 under at Bogota Country Club. He earned $108,000 in official money, but is credited with an unofficial victory because the players failed to complete 54 holes in the scheduled 72-hole tournament.

"This was a hollow victory because it's unofficial," Pappas said. "We didn't get to play 72 holes, but it's a victory nonetheless."

Sabbatini wins Honda by 1 shot

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Rory Sabbatini's shot barely beat the buzzer.

Holding a two-stroke lead at the Honda Classic, the South African stepped to the tee at the treacherous par-three 17th hole and lofted his drive to the middle of the green, avoiding the lake that had been collecting balls all week.

Moments later a horn sounded, signaling a suspension of play because of lightning. As rain began falling harder, Sabbatini walked briskly to his ball and happily marked it before finding refuge in a van.

"I was pretty content to have it on the green at that time," he said.

The tee shot left Sabbatini significantly closer to victory, and after a 28-minute delay he completed his march to the title, shooting an even-par 70 Sunday for a one-stroke win.

Y.E. Yang made it close, cutting a five-shot deficit to one in the span of seven holes. But Sabbatini birdied No. 16, then came through with a clutch par on 17.

While spectators wondered if Sabbatini would fold, Yang said he was actually the shakier player down the stretch.

"Usually if you're in front, if you're running away from somebody, you tend to be a bit nervous," Yang said through an interpreter. "But in Rory's case, apart from No. 14, he seemed really calm. I commend him for being I guess so emotionally stable. I wasn't."

Sabbatini sealed the title with a 2-foot par putt on No. 18 for a 72-hole total of 9-under 271. The resident of Fort Worth, Texas, earned his sixth PGA Tour victory and his first since the 2009 Byron Nelson Championship.

Webb wins HSBC Women's Champions by 1 stroke

SINGAPORE (AP) — Australia's Karrie Webb used four straight birdies on the back nine Sunday to surge past Japan's Chie Arimura for a one-shot victory at the HSBC Women's Champions.

The 36-year-old Webb finished with a 3-under 69 for a 13-under 275 at Singapore's Tanah Merah Country Club for her 37th career LPGA tour win.

"I'm one ahead of my age," Webb said. "I kicked it in on the back nine. I got it done and it feels great."

Webb, who took home a winner's check of $210,000, was three strokes behind Arimura after a bogey on the 10th. But she started her string of birdies on the next hole to grab a lead she would never relinquish.
Arimura (71) had led from the first round and had a one-stroke advantage over Webb going into the final round. The 23-year-old Arimura, who has seven Japan LPGA victories, has yet to win an LPGA tournament.

"I'm disappointed with the result, but I played a pretty good round today, so I'm happy," Arimura said.

"Karrie is really smart and very calm and really a good player."

Top-ranked Yani Tseng of Taiwan (67) jumped into contention with five birdies on the front nine, but couldn't keep up that pace and finished in third place, three shots behind the winner.

Tseng was coming off a string of three victories in three weeks, earning the top ranking after wins at the Australian Women's Open and Australian Ladies Masters on the Ladies European Tour in February and last week's LPGA Thailand event.

"Last night, I didn't think I was going to win today, and then after the front nine, I was thinking I can win," Tseng said. "But I just couldn't get it on the back nine."

South Korea's Sun Young Yoo (69) finished fourth, five strokes behind Webb. American Morgan Pressel (68) was another shot back in fifth and Na Yeon Choi (71) of South Korea was sixth, seven strokes behind.

A dominant Donald faces new World No. 1 Kaymer in all-European final.

MARANA, Ariz. — Jack Nicklaus once revealed his secret formula for golfing success: "Hit more fairways, find more greens, and hole more putts."

Genius. Luke Donald has clearly been paying attention.

"They can call me a plodder if they like," Donald said. "But I make birdies, too. There's more to the game than hitting it long. There's definitely ways to make birdies other than hitting it 350 yards."

For example, being deadly with a wedge from 90 yards and in, and having a putter that is almost too hot to handle.

"I pride myself on a good short game," Donald said. "I work very hard at it."

Take note, Mr. Watson and Mr. Holmes. Brains beat brawn. Little Luke shouldn't be suited to a course that measures 7,800 yards, but he has made it to the final in the fewest number of holes in the tournament's history.
"I can describe my week in one word," Donald said. "Pretty dominant."

That's two words, but who's counting? The only statistics that matter are 27 birdies and just four bogeys in 73 holes.

"I haven't really missed any greens," Donald said. "I've been tough to beat this week."

Make that impossible.

"There's no escaping Luke Donald," said Matt Kuchar, his 6-and-5 semifinal victim. "I played decent golf, and he just tore me up."

Donald will go head-to-head with the new No. 1 player in the world, Martin Kaymer. At stake is $1.4 million and the chance for Donald to rise to No. 3 if he wins. Europeans would fill the first four places in the world rankings, with Lee Westwood No. 2 and Graeme McDowell No. 4. The all-European final makes it five of the last six years without an American reaching the last match.

The final will be the most important day of Donald's career since he was tied for the lead at the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah — and in the final group with Tiger Woods. Donald cheekily wore red, Woods's Sunday tradition, and got pummeled. Donald chuckled when he was reminded of his choice of color. There will be no red for the Match Play final.

Kaymer takes down Bubba to earn No. 1 ranking

MARANA, Ariz. — Golf has a new No. 1 player. It's Martin Kaymer of Germany after he beat Bubba Watson in a tough match and advanced to Sunday's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship final against England's Luke Donald.

The win meant Kaymer will pick up enough points to slip past the current No. 1 player, Lee Westwood, who was eliminated in the second round.

"It is a very proud moment for me, my family, all the people who helped me, and Germany, as well," he said. "To be the second one to do it is a nice feeling."

Bernhard Langer was the first German to reach No. 1.

Kaymer has reached the top with an impressive mix of power and precision. He's reasonably long off the tee, accurate with his irons and an outstanding putter. That combination was too much for Watson, who rallied from 5 down with eight holes to play to knock out J.B. Holmes in the quarterfinals.
Watson's semifinal match against Kaymer was all square with four holes to play. At the drivable par-4 15th hole, however, Watson sliced his shot left of the green into desert scrub and was forced to take a penalty drop. Kaymer got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie and a 1 up lead. At the par-3 16th, a gust of wind caught Watson's tee shot and sent it long, just over the green. Watson failed to get up-and-down and went 2 down after Kaymer made par.

But Watson fought back with a clutch six-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to keep the match alive. On 18, Watson's run ended when the hole was halved with pars. Kaymer advanced to the final match — and earned the No. 1 ranking.

One question, though: Why are world ranking points even awarded for the Match Play Championship? A player who wins this week only has to beat six opponents instead of 155, like a regular stroke-play event.

World Golf Championships living up to its name at Match Play

MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — More than ever, the World Golf Championships are living up to their name.
The series enters its 13th year when the Match Play Championship gets under way Wednesday at Dove Mountain with Lee Westwood of England as the fifth player to occupy the No. 1 seed in the 64-man field.

There are players from 15 countries, which is not unusual or even a record. But as the boundaries of golf become more blurred, there is a certain vibe in the high desert north of Tucson that a rivalry is taking shape - not between two players, but two continents.

The Americans have the most players in the 64-man field with 25.

The Europeans have the highest-ranked players - eight of the top 16 seeds, led by Westwood and Martin Kaymer.

And it was only last year when Ian Poulter defeated Paul Casey in an all-England championship match, the first year that no Americans reached the semifinals since the Accenture Match Play Championship began in 1999. That kicked off a golden year for Europe, in which it won the Ryder Cup and had two players win majors.

"It might have been a surprise to some, but it certainly hasn't been a surprise if you look at the rankings over the last couple of years, at how well the European players have played," Poulter said. "It would surprise me at all to see something similar happen this year with how you look at the world rankings. European players are very, very strong."

Fueling the seeds of a rivalry were the decisions of Westwood, Kaymer and Rory McIlroy - all among the top 10 in the world - not to take up PGA Tour membership this year. Westwood and McIlroy later said they wouldn't not go to The Players Championship, the richest tournament in golf with traditionally the strongest and deepest field.

Graeme McDowell thinks some of it is overcooked.

"Of course, the European Tour is very protective of their tour, and the PGA is very protective of their tour, and they should be," he said. "Everyone has their personal preferences of where they want to play and how much they want to play. I think there's maybe been a little bit of media blowing it up into something it's not.
"I don't think there's any antagonism there," McDowell said. "The best players in the world want to play against each other as often as possible."

The players are going about their own business this week, and Kaymer spoke well when asked if he were representing Germany or the European Tour at the Match Play Championship.

Match Play's unique format, loaded field could bring clarity to world ranking

MARANA, Ariz. — Geoff Ogilvy didn't play well in winning the 2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, at least not at the start, and not by his standards.

Ogilvy needed 19 holes to beat Kevin Sutherland in the first round. Shingo Katayama then all but eliminated Ogilvy in round two, but had a misadventure on 18 to force extra holes, and hit his ball in the desert again to lose to the young Australian on the 19th hole.

That was all the opening Ogilvy needed.

"To win the whole thing you need a few things like that to happen," said Ogilvy, who would get progressively better that week to win the Accenture for the second time. "I mean you had the one year when David Toms steamrolled everyone [in '05], but that's rare."

This is the first co-sanctioned PGA/European Tour event of 2011, and it will likely eclipse the Tour's Mayakoba Classic in Cancun, the Nationwide tour's season-opening Panama Claro Championship, and the LPGA's HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore.

With the best players in America and Europe having been largely segregated this year, and the rankings generating discussion on both sides of the Atlantic, the Accenture might help make sense of things.
It could also be no help whatsoever.

This is either the easiest tournament to win — you have to beat only six players, not 143 — or the hardest. A player who has just one bad round usually won't get the chance to overcome it.

Baddeley sneaks past Couples at Riviera

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fred Couples was starting to show his age Saturday at Riviera.

He hit a poor wedge, knocked a putt over the back of the green and turned a potential birdie into bogey on the 10th hole to slip three shots behind Aaron Baddeley in the Northern Trust Open. Then came a pounding rain as Couples approached the toughest stretch of the course, and the 51-year-old with an aching back braced for the worst.

"I was thinking, 'What am I going to shoot on the back nine, 40?'" Couples said. "You start playing like those guys did yesterday in that weather, anything would have happened."

Something did. The rain stopped. Couples played the rest of the way in 1-under par, keeping alive his hopes of another win at Riviera, and a chance to become the oldest PGA Tour winner in more than 35 years.
Even in good weather, it might not be easy.

Baddeley, whose career once held so much promise when he won the Australian Open as an 18-year-old amateur, is starting to hit his stride since returning to longtime swing coach Dale Lynch. He played 22 holes on Saturday in all kinds of weather and hit just about every shot where he was aiming, including a few putts.
He birdied the 18th in the morning chill to finish off a second-round 69, then ran off three straight birdies around the turn that led to a 4-under 67 and his first 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour in five years.

Langer wins ACE Group Classic with record 20 under

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Bernhard Langer shot a 6-under-par 66 Sunday to set a tournament record with a 20-under 196 total and win the ACE Group Classic by four shots.

The 53-year-old Langer held a four-stroke lead going into the final round. Fred Funk got within two after Langer bogeyed No. 11, but Langer came right back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 14. He finished with a 5-footer for birdie on No. 18.

"It's always exciting winning," said Langer, who earned his 14th Champions Tour win. "It never gets old no matter where or how big the tournament, whether it's a major or not. Winning is what we're out here for, what I practice for."
Funk had a chance to make the final hole a little interesting, but missed a short birdie putt on No. 17 and finished with a 66 for a 16-under total.

"I just couldn't get them in the hole from there," he said. "I gave myself some opportunities. I thought if I could've kept the heat on him and made a few more of those putts, but Bernhard played great."
Nick Price (66) and Russ Cochran (67) tied for third, another shot back. Mark Calcavecchia (68) was fifth at 14 under.

"Overall it was kind of a crazy day," said Cochran, who was tied for the first-round lead with Langer. "I missed some putts you'd thought I'd make and made a bunch of them you didn't think I'd make."

Langer, a three-time Champions Tour Player of the Year, won after what had been a slow start to the year. He finished tied for 16th and 17th in the season's first two full-field events.

Tseng wins LPGA Thailand by 5 shots; Wie second

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — Top-ranked Yani Tseng earned her third tournament win in three weeks Sunday, shooting a 6-under 66 to pull away for a comfortable five-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the LPGA Thailand.

Tseng led by one stroke over Wie and I.K. Kim going into the final round of the season-opening LPGA event and had the lowest score of the day with seven birdies and one bogey to finish at 15-under 273.

Wie settled for a 70 to finish second in the season-opening LPGA event, while Kim had a 71 was another stroke back in a tie for third with Karrie Webb, who shot a 69. Paula Creamer was fifth at 8 under after a 71.
Tseng took over the No. 1 ranking after winning back-to-back Ladies European Tour events, the Australian Open and then the Australian Ladies Masters last weekend.

"I just tried my best and I know I had lots of confidence," Tseng said about winning three weeks in a row. "But with all the great golfers out here, you never know until the last putt drops in."

Kim birdied three of her first six holes to sit tied for the lead with Tseng, and was at 13 under after a birdie on the 13th. However, she made a quintuple bogey on the 17th to fall out of contention, before finishing with a birdie to secure a tie for third.

Wie also put pressure on Tseng by chipping in for a birdie on the first hole and picking up two more shots on the sixth and seventh. But she didn't make another birdie the rest of the way and was four shots behind Tseng when she bogeyed the 17th.

"I feel like I played good out there today, but on the back nine I just didn't make anything," Wie said. "Yani played fantastic. She played like a rock star out there. She made every single putt and zero mistakes. Congrats to her."

Couples' Riviera magic a perfect finish to unforgettable West Coast swing

This has been the best West Coast swing in forever. Jonathan Byrd, the little boxer, duking it out at Kapalua with Robert Garrigus, who by the end was just trying to stay on his feet. Jhonny Vegas in the desert. Jhonny Vegas! Phil nearly holing out that wedge shot on the last hole at Torrey Pines, with Bones tending the pin from across the pond. Mssrs. Points and Murray at Pebble. And now this, this Sunday, at the old L.A. Open, at old Riviera, with old Fred right there.

You know why Hollywood likes sequels? Because when you make Big Momma's House 3, you're recycling the millions you spent promoting BMH 1 and 2. The built-in audience is already there, all primed and waiting. And so it will be today. Some of us have been watching golf at Riviera for 60 or more years. Some of have watched Fred Couples's career play out. He has teased us before, and he'll tease us again. Is today the day he wins a splashy Tour event on a sparkly course over players young enough to be his children? Probably not but maybe yes, and that's why we'll be watching.

Fred, like all geniuses, is ruthlessly efficient. He'll get more out of three weeks this year than most players will get out of 30. He already owns this Northern Trust Open. He'll be a stakeholder at the Masters come April, where he'll most likely play practice rounds with his new buddy Tiger Woods and where he'll most likely post some sort of lick-your-lips 36-hole score.

And come fall, he'll head to gorgeous Royal Melbourne, with Tiger and Phil and DJ in tow, for the Presidents Cup, and the stars will tell us what a pleasure it is to play for a players’ captain like Fred. Maybe MJ will be hanging around. Greg Norman and Ernie Els and other golfing royalty will there, representing the Internationals. By the time Fred and Shark have their final soul shake, you'll be pining away for the early Clinton years and the promise of Apple stock and wondering why Couples is not in the Hall of Fame.

Baddeley wins at Riviera

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Finally a winner again, Aaron Baddeley raised his arms when his last putt dropped into the cup Sunday in the Northern Trust Open as his wife and two young daughters came over to share the moment.

They might have been among the few cheering him on at Riviera.

Baddeley could hear chants of "Freddie!" at every turn, and it got even louder when Fred Couples birdied the opening three holes to take the lead. Unfazed, Baddeley cared only about a victory that was just as meaningful to him.

"I thought Freddie was going to be tough today because winning is a skill, and Freddie has been winning quite often recently," Baddeley said. "When he got off to a good start, I was like, 'Freddie looks like he's going to have one of those days where he's going to play great.' I was still just trying to focus on my game, and try to do what I needed to do."
He did just enough.
In a battle of generations, the 29-year-old Australian made his best putt after his only big mistake and closed with a 2-under 69 to hold off Vijay Singh and Couples, and win for the first time in four years.
Baddeley wound up with a two-shot win over Singh, who turns 48 on Tuesday. The big Fijian closed with a 69 for his best finish in more than two years. Couples, who still had hope on the 16th, bogeyed two of the last three holes and shot 73 to tie for seventh in his bid to become the PGA Tour's oldest winner in more than 35 years.

"I'm a golfer, so I'm disappointed," Couples said.

With his tender back, it only took one hole for the 51-year-old Couples to fall apart. Tied for the lead, he pushed his tee shot into the barranca to the right of the seventh fairway in grass so thick he had trouble finding his ball. Couples gave it a ferocious whack, and the ball came out to the left and into a bunker. He wound up making double bogey, a three-shot swing when Baddeley holed a 20-footer for birdie from the fringe.

Mickelson eyes a big year with focus back to golf

SAN DIEGO (AP) — One of the more compelling images from Torrey Pines apparently won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Phil Mickelson, in the middle of a five-week stretch of tournaments, took time off to rest Tuesday. That allowed his caddie a chance to sneak over to play golf at Whisper Rock before getting back to work at the Phoenix Open.

Jim "Bones" Mackay wasn't on the phone very long when it was time for him to play a shot, so he handed the phone off to someone in his group. That turned out to be Geoff Ogilvy, who provided details of the round.

"We're actually having Bones run up from the fairway to tend the flag for us," Ogilvy said.

He was only kidding, and Mackay can expect plenty of that.

In yet another case of Mickelson's entertainment value, he needed an eagle on the par-5 18th hole at Torrey Pines to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. The odds weren't very good, and Mickelson knew that. But leaving nothing to chance, he had Mackay tend the flag as he stood over his third shot from 72 yards out in the fairway.

Having a caddie tend the flag for a full shot from the fairway is unusual, but not unprecedented. Then again, it was only nine months ago when Mickelson told his caddie NOT to tend the flag when he had a birdie putt on the green.

That happened in the third round at Quail Hollow last year, when Mickelson was trying to make a point about the severe greens. From 60 feet away, he felt his only chance at par was to putt well right of the cup. He ended up getting his par.

Few players are more unpredictable than Mickelson.

Yes, he is Phil the Thrill.

Phil also has a plan.

He came into this season with a pointed message that he delivered first in Abu Dhabi, then repeated last week at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he shot four rounds in the 60s and had to settle for second place.

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