Date: June 05, 2013
Author: Australian Ladies Professional Golf
Karrie Webb has her sights set on another major title and improving her world ranking even further as she leads the Australian contingent into the second major of the LPGA season. The Wegmans LPGA Championship gets underway Friday morning Australian time at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford New York. Webb climbed to number 8 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings after she secured her 39th title last week-end. Winning the week before a major definitely gives me plenty of confidence going into this week. Webb said from Pittsford. I always think the rankings take care of themselves. If I play well, my ranking will show accordingly. It&aposs nice to be back in the top 10 though. Hoping to stay there or climb a little further up the top would be nice! Webb is joined in the field by fellow compatriots Julia Boland, Katherine Hull-Kirk, Lindsey Wright, Sarah Jane Smith and Sarah Kemp. Bre Elliott is also hoping to get a start as she is currently the first alternate. For Webb, Locust Hill is a place she feels very comfortable at, having won twice at the course when it was the Wegmans LPGA tournament (1999 and 2002). She certainly knows what it will take to be in contention come Sunday afternoon. Keys this week are definitely going to be driving the ball well. The rough is as thick as I&aposve ever seen it so being in the fairway is absolutely key. Next is probably then going to be the short game. The fairways are so tight that you are probably going to miss a few fairways and need to get it up and down as much as possible. While Webb has been playing in majors for over 15 years, Boland, who is a rookie on the LPGA tour this year will be teeing off in her first. Boland is certainly looking forward to her first tee time of 7.48am on Thursday US time. Speaking from Pittsford, she said she was pretty pumped . There is definitely an intensity pick up with a major, but it&aposs exciting and created a great atmosphere. Regards course is going to be a true test. It&aposs long, and very tight and the rough is long. The greens are sensational so if you get the ball rolling there will be birdies out there. The defending champion is Shanshan Feng. The 22-year-old made history last year when she became the first player from the mainland China to win on the LPGA Tour, capturing a two-shot victory at the 2012 Wegmans LPGA Championship. Feng shot a 5-under-par 67, the lowest round of the week, in the final round to come from three shots back and finish the week at 6-under-par 282. Other likely contenders this week apart from Webb and Feng are Rolex Ranked World No. 1 Inbee Park and American Stacy Lewis. New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko is also in the week. Tune in to Fox Sports for coverage of the event.