Inside the Ropes

After starting off Sunday tied for 1st against Jiyai Shin, Michelle Wie proved victorious and won the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open at St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg.  She finished the week at 12-under-par 276, and held off a very competitive group of golfers including defending champion Suzann Pettersen,  Jiyai Shin, Kristy McPherson and Jee Young Lee. These ladies all tied for 2nd and finished three strokes behind Wie.

The victory is the second of the 20-year old’s LPGA career and the first of the 2010 LPGA season.  This win moves her into 7th place on the list.

And amazing news, Team VTech’s Becky Morgan proved she was as fierce a player as any of them this weekend! She finished the tournament with an impressive total of 283 and finished tied for 11th!!! Her fellow teammate Karen Stupples finished T30 at even and a total of 288. Great job ladies!!

We hope our ladies keep the momentum going as they head to Arkansas for the P&G NW Arkansas Championship Presented by Walmart next month.

It’s always nice when a weekend’s work of hard work yields you a prize purse of $225,000. Ah, to be able to golf… to swing a club and hit a ball 200+ screaming yards and then putt it into a little teeny tiny hole and win. And while the rest of us sit at our desks cursing our less than sporty genetics, the girls on the LPGA are cleaning up on the course and playing a great season.

This weekend, Ai Miyazato, Japan’s golf girl #1, won the Safeway Classic presented by Cocoa-Cola at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course, Ghost Creek Golf Course in North Plains, OR with a score of 11-under-par, total 205. With this win, the flip flop game that has been taking place with the Rolex Rankings this year will most likely continue with Ai’s #2 ranking becoming #1 yet again. The top ten slots had the familiar names we’ve seen all season long, Na Yeon Choi, Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen, Song-Hee Kim, In-Kyung Kim, Jiyai Shin, etc, all within two to four strokes behind the leader.

And speaking of familiar names, Team VTech’s Becky Morgan finished T29 at 1-under-par, total 215, with Alena Sharp T37 at even, total 216 (same as Michelle Wie), Beth Bader T45 with 2-over-par, total 217 (same as Yani Tseng), and Diana D’Alessio at 75th at 12-over-par, total  228. Our girls played great this year, and considering the company they kept in score, it was a tough one, but they pulled through! Great job and congratulations Team VTech!!

*M.J. Hur missed the cut and was unable to defend her title.

After a few weeks off, the girls are back!! This weekend, they head to Portland, Oregon (VTech territory) to compete at the 38th annual Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club’s Ghost Creek Course for the second consecutive year.

It’ll be  star studded event with the top 15-players on the Rolex Ranking list and defending champion M.J. Hur competing for the title. And our Team VTech girls will be gunning for the top spot as well!

Last year we saw some great golf action on the 54 hole course, and we’re hoping for the same this year, if not more! So if you’re attending the Safeway Classic, be sure to say hi to Team VTech, Karen Stupples, Alena Sharp, Becky Morgan, Diana D’Alessio, Beth Bader, and Meghan Francella, and wish them luck!!

Here’s to another great weekend of golf brought to you by VTech and the LPGA.

21-year old Yani Tseng wins her first RICOH Women’s British Open at historic Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. She’s now the youngest player in LPGA history to win three Major championship titles.

She started the final round with a lead over Katherine Hull and had a breakthrough by actually winning. She has never won a tournament while heading into it on top of the leader board.

Yani finished at 11-under-par 277, Katherine Hull finished one stroke behind, with Na Yeon Choi and In-Kyung Kim tied for 3rd at 7-under-par 281. Last year’s champion Catriona Matthews failed to make the cut this year.

Team VTech’s Alena Sharp and Meaghan Francella finished T64 and T69 respectively.

At the Evian Masters Presented by Societe Generale at the Evian Masters Golf Club, in Evian-Les-Bains, France, (that’s a lot of Evian!) Jiyai Shin wins the tournament with a score of 14-under-par (274), holding off Na Yeon Choi, Alexis Thompson, and Morgan Pressel, who were just one stroke behind at 13-under-par (275). Last year’s winner Ai Miyazato finished tied for 19th at 5-under-par (283) along with three others.

Jiayi Shin entered the final round two strokes behind, but made several crucial birdies, one in particular to break a four-way tie with Pressel, Thompson, and Choi. And though she entered the tournament ranked 4th on the Rolex Rankings, she is projected to be the new No.1 come this Monday. For someone who had an emergency appendectomy several weeks, Shin is coming back to top form quickly. She now has seven LPGA tournament titles.

Team VTech’s Karen Stupples finished tied for 43rd at even (288), Meaghan Francella finished at 1-over-par to finish tied for 48th (289), while Alena Sharp finished ten places behind at 53rd at 2-over-par (290).

Next week Team VTech and the rest of the LPGA head to Southport, England for the RICOH Women’s British Open. Be sure to check back with Inside the Ropes to see how our ladies fair with the weather and course in the UK.

The ladies of Team VTech and the rest of the LPGA have the weekend off as the Men gear up for the U.S. Open of Golf. But don’t worry, they’ll return next weekend with the Evian Masters and the following week with the RICOH British Open, so more exciting golf is still heading your way!

Till then…  remember to cheer on our girls, Karen Stupples, Alena Sharp, Meaghan Francella, Becky Morgan, Beth Bader, and Diana D’Alessio, and keep it here for more information “Inside the Ropes” with Team VTech.

This week proved a triumph in many ways. On the final day, 13 players shot under-par, which was more than the three previous days combined, Paula Creamer won the 65th U.S. Women’s Open (her first major championship victory), and three members of Team VTech ranked in the top 50.

Paula Creamer won with a final score of 3-under-par (281) and walked away with $585,000!! Na Yeon Choi and Suzann Pettersen finished tied for 2nd at 1-over-par (285). Meaghan Francella continues to do well in the tournaments and finished tied for 24th with a final score of  14-over-par, 298. Meaghan’s VTech team mates Karen Stupples and Alena Sharp finished T39 and T48 respectively.

We’re very proud of our girls as they continue to do well this LPGA season. We’ll be rooting for them and you should to as they keep their amazing stamina and momentum going, moving up in the ranking,s and playing amazing golf.  GO TEAM VTECH!!

By capturing 8 out of 10 of the top ten positions at this year’s  Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, S. Korea had a very strong showing. But out of everyone, Na Yeon Choi (14-under-par, total 270) came out on top. She outlasted In-Kyung Kim, Song-Hee Kim, and Christina Kim in an overtime two-hole sudden-death playoff after all four players missed their first hole and parred the par-5 18th. Choi made a 3-footer for birdie on the par-5 17th hole at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio to take home her third LPGA victory.

Team VTech had an amazing showing at this year’s Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic with team member Alena Sharp tied for 10th alongside Stacy Prammanasudh, Azahara Munoz and Kristy McPherson 10-under-par (total 274). Not far behind was Diana D’Alessio tied for 17th at 8-under-par, 276 total, Meaghan Francella, tied 22  with 7-under-par, (total 277) and to round it out, Karen Stupples tied 39 at 4-under-par (total 280).

We couldn’t be happier with our members placing in the top 50 and 3 out of the 4 finishing in the top 25! Incredible ladies! We’re so proud of you!

This week, the LPGA is heading to the US Open and another week of more exciting golf to be sure. Keep it here at Inside the Ropes for your golf updates.

And we’re back! The LPGA returns this week to Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio for the 26th annual Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, one of the longest-running tournaments on the LPGA schedule. 150 golfers will be competing this weekend for a tournament purse of $1 million and a first place prize of $150,000.

Keep an eye out as six former champions are set to play this week including defending champion Eunjung Yi, as well as the amazing ladies of Team VTech. Karen, Alena, Diana, Becky, Beth, and Meaghan.. we’re wishing you the best of luck!!

Cristie Kerr won the LPGA Championship Presented by Wegmans this weekend by a staggering 12-strokes over Song-Hee Kim and broke the record for the largest winning margin in LPGA Championship history.  The previous record of 11 shots was held by Betsy King in 1992. Kerr is now the owner of 14 LPGA tournament titles and is projected to become the first American to take over the No. 1 position in the Rolex Rankings.  Kerr held on to her first-round lead and never let go.

Team VTech’s Meaghan Francella continues to do well this season with a 7th place finish!! Top Ten!! She tied with players such as Morgan Pressel, Inbee Park, and Jimin Kang finishing 3-under-par and a total of 285. And Alena Sharp finished T47.

What will happen next week? With so many players in the running for Rolex Rankings No.1 player, it’s anyone’s guess who will remain on top. With her victory today Kerr is projected to be the new No.1, knocking out Ai Miyazato who’s only held the position for a week. And close behind is Jiyai Shin. But with the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger coming up, we’ll have to wait to see if the ranks shift again.

Congrats to Meaghan for her amazing Top Ten finish and we wish her and all our Team VTech members much luck at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic!!