WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) ― Lizette Salas moved into position for her first LPGA Tour victory, playing 25 holes Saturday in 6-under par to take a three-stroke lead in the Kingsmill Championship.The 24-year-old former Southern California player shot a 3-under 68 in the completion of the rain-delayed second round and birdied three of the last five holes in the afternoon for a season-best 65.“I took a different approach this week,” Salas said. “I only played the pro-am. I’ve seen the course sever

May 18, 2014

IRVING, Texas (AP) ― Peter Hanson made his only back-nine birdie with a 6-foot putt at the 18th hole Thursday, closing out a 5-under 65 for a one-stroke lead over David Duval and two others after the first round of the Byron Nelson Championship.Duval, ranked 890th in the world 15 years after being No. 1, birdied his last three holes ― Nos. 7-9 ― after pitching in from 57 feet for another birdie at the fifth hole.Marc Leishman and Tim Wilkinson matched Duval at 66.The 42-year-old Duval almost wit

May 16, 2014

Choi Kyung-ju (Yonhap)INCHEON (Yonhap) ― PGA Tour veteran Choi Kyung-ju on Wednesday was named a goodwill ambassador for the upcoming Asian Games to be held in the South Korean city of Incheon.“It’s a great personal honor to be named an honorary ambassador for the Asian Games at home,” Choi said at Sky72 Golf and Resort in Incheon, where he is scheduled to play at the SK Telecom Open, co-sanctioned by the Korea PGA and OneAsia Tour, starting Thursday.“I hope to play well at the upcoming tourname

May 14, 2014

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) ― Martin Kaymer produced one of the most unlikely pars on the 17th green at the TPC Sawgrass without ever going in the water. It carried him to a one-shot victory Sunday in The Players Championship that was emotional in so many ways.Kaymer nearly blew a three-shot lead after a 90-minute rain delay until he holed a 30-foot par putt on the famous island green. He got up-and-down with his putter from short of the 18th green for one last par and a 1-under 71. Martin K

May 12, 2014

Bae Sang-moon plays a shot on the fifth green on Thursday. ( EPA-Yonhap)PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) ― Martin Kaymer stopped thinking, started swinging and played his way into the record book Thursday in The Players Championship.Kaymer missed only two fairways. He putted for birdie on all but one hole. And the former PGA champion finished with four straight birdies to become only the fourth player to shoot 9-under 63 on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass, giving him a two-shot lead over R

May 9, 2014

IRVING, Texas (AP) ― Suzann Pettersen shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the North Texas LPGA Shootout. Pettersen, who returned to the LPGA Tour last week after missing a month with back problems, had a one-stroke lead over playing partner Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie, Caroline Masson, Christina Kim, Cydney Clanton and Dori Carter. Top-ranked Inbee Park, the defending champion, and Stacy Lewis, the highest-ranked American at No. 3, both shot 71 at Las Colinas

May 2, 2014

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) ― Except for a major that lacked drama in the final hour, rarely has the entire month of April delivered so much excitement. Some of the biggest names and brightest stars won all the tournaments, one after the other, even as one of the tour’s best players was sidelined by a back injury.At least that’s the story on the LPGA Tour.“It’s a neat time,” said Mike Whan, in his fifth year as LPGA commissioner. “It’s neat for the players, too. We’ve got a lot of big guns pl

April 30, 2014

DALY CITY, California (AP) ― With the 18th pin and a championship in sight, Lydia Ko found herself in the rough again in a day filled with off-target drives. The teen told herself she just needed one more important chip with the tournament on the line.Poised and unflappable, Ko made the perfect pitch up to the green and birdied the final hole for her first LPGA Tour victory as a professional and third in all, holding off Stacy Lewis and Jenny Shin on Sunday in the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA

April 28, 2014

AVONDALE, Louisiana (AP) ― As Noh Seung-yul exhaled and tilted his head back in a skyward gaze on the 18th green, his South Korean countryman and fellow PGA Tour player, Yang Yong-eun, charged toward him, spraying him with bottled beer.Noh smiled, removed his hat, held both arms out and soaked it all in.The 22-year-old overcame windy conditions and the pressure that goes with attempting to secure a maiden PGA Tour triumph, shooting a 1-under 71 on Sunday to win the Zurich Classic by two shots.He

April 28, 2014

DALY CITY, California (AP) ― Stacy Lewis matched playing partner Lydia Ko with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 and added another on the 17th to take a one-stroke lead Saturday in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.The third-ranked Lewis and fourth-ranked Ko each shot 4-under 68 at Lake Merced. Winless since the Women’s British Open in August, Lewis had a 10-under 206 total.Ko won the Canadian Women’s Open as an amateur the last two years and took the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in December in T

April 27, 2014

AVONDALE, Louisiana (AP) ― If Noh Sueng-yul can hold on to the lead in the Zurich Classic, he’ll do it front of fans who can appreciate how much bigger Noh’s mission is than simply winning his first PGA Tour event.Wearing yellow and black ribbons on his hat to honor victims of the April 16 South Korean ferry accident, Noh used a string of birdies late in his round Saturday to surge two strokes ahead of Keegan Bradley atop the leaderboard.It is Noh’s first career lead through three rounds on the

April 27, 2014

DALY CITY, California (AP) ― Karine Icher and her caddie husband, Fred, evaluated the conditions and course at challenging Lake Merced and decided on a Day 1 strategy: stay short of the pin and putt uphill.The move worked beautifully, and Icher delivered the most consistent performance on a day there weren’t many in the debut of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.“I think it’s the key on this course,” Icher said. “It’s a tough golf course, especially with the wind and temperature. It gets so cold.

April 25, 2014

DALY CITY, California (AP) ― A beaming Michelle Wie explained her oversized visor as a necessary new addition after recently discovering wrinkles at age 24, then good-naturedly defended her unique, hunched-over putting stroke because Jack Nicklaus uses it.Improved sun protection and short game aside, Wie is riding high after a comeback win in her home state of Hawaii last week. Now, she returns to familiar ground in the Bay Area looking to build on her first LPGA Tour victory in nearly four year

April 23, 2014

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) ― Matt Kuchar saw his well-struck 5-iron on the 18th hole at the RBC Heritage come up way short of the target and settle in a front bunker.“Well,” he thought as he walked toward the shot, “there are a lot worse places to be.”For Kuchar, there was no better place ― and no better shot in the tournament.He followed with a stunning chip-in on Harbour Town Golf Link’s closing, lighthouse hole, to overcome a four-shot deficit for a one-stroke victory and end nea

April 21, 2014

KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) ― Michelle Wie rallied from four strokes back entering the day to shoot a 5-under 67 on Saturday and win the LPGA LOTTE Championship.The 24-year-old American finished at 14-under 274 after coming into the final round trailing third-round leader Angela Stanford by four shots after Friday’s play. It was Wie’s third career victory on the LPGA Tour, and first since taking the CN Canadian Women’s Open in 2010.And, Wie did it at home.“I’m just having fun out there,” said Wie, who

April 20, 2014