(16 February 2011, Christchurch, New Zealand)
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New Zealand teenage sensations Lydia Ko and Cecilia Cho are major contenders and are taking the limelight from the quality professional line up leading into this week’s Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open hosted by Christchurch.
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13-year old Ko catapulted into the headlines four weeks ago when she finished runner-up to Swede Caroline Hedwall at the Bing Lee / Samsung Women’s NSW Open at Oatlands in Sydney. Ko then went on to finish tied 12th two weeks later in the Women’s Australian Open.
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A year on from her first appearance in the tournament she’s more assured but still retains that delightful, bubbly, sense of humour of so many in this age group. But that is on the surface. Deep down there is wisdom and determination.
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rnWhen questioned about why she didn’t play the Masters last week, she politely responded “I wanted to be fresh for playing the Pegasus New Zealand Open and did not want to be too tired which was the way I felt after the Australian Open.”
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rnAfter last year’s experience, Ko knows that Pegasus is not an easy course. It is new and the bounce is hard, the greens are fast, and then there is the wind, which will definitely blow at some stage over the tournament, possibly every day and possibly from more than one direction.
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rn“I just need to hang in there if it is windy and play the best I can. I am pretty consistent, so that is good for me and I did play my best round of the tournament last year when it was very windy,” she said.
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rnWhile at 16 years of age Cho is also is great form after finishing in a tie for 5th place in last week’s ANZ RACV Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast. When asked about her expectations for this week she responded “I would like to finish in the top 15”.
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Australians Sarah Jane Smith and Sarah Kemp will be heading the Australian contingent after recording top 10 finishes in last week’s Ladies Masters.
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Kemp can’t wait for the tournament to get underway on Thursday as she would like to extract some revenge after finishing runner-up to England’s legend Laura Davies.
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“Last week was great for my confidence, so I can’t wait to tee it up and get going. I came so close last year, so I am hoping that I go one better this week. It would be awesome to win the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open .” said the 25-year old from Sydney.
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Davies, who has won 77 titles worldwide, is confident she can go win back-to-back NZ Women’s Open. Her win last year kick started another stella season by the season campaigner who collected five titles and finished second on the Henderson Money List with Euro 311,000 to South African Lee-Anne Pace.
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Fellow Europeans tour players to watch this week include England’s Melissa Reid, who finished runner-up at the Women’s Australian Open, rookie Spaniard Belen Mozo, who posted a top 15 finish last week and Swede Pernilla Lindberg who finished in a tie for runner-up here last year with a stunning final round of 9-under par 63.
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