Abi Laker has joint best third round on her 

way to a T12 finished at Little Rock

Abi Laker, pictured, from Oxfordshire, in her final year as a student at Arkansas State University, shot the joint lowest third round of the tournament, a 70, on her way to a total of 222 (73-79-70) and a share of 12th place in a field of 83 players at the Little Rock tournament earlier this month at Diamante Country Club, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The individual winner was a Swedish freshman at Centra Arkansas, Emma Svensson who outclassed the field with an eight-stroke victory, shooting rounds of 69, 67 and 72 for an eight-under-par total of 208.
Missouri State (887) won the team title ahead of Central Arkansas (890) with hosts Little Rock (896) third. Arkansas State finished eighth in a field of 15 teams with a total of 911

Georgina just outside top 10 as Devon Spriddle helps Southern Miss win team title at UAB Fall Beach Bash

Georgina Blackman from Essex, a second year student at Western Kentucky, finished just outside the top 10 with rounds of 74 and 73 in the UAB Fall Beach Bash at The Peninsula Golf Club, Gulf Shores, Alabama.

A shot ahead of Georgina was Devon Spriddle (Southern Mississippi), daughter of a well known name in Fife and much farther afield, Dean Spriddle (pictured right)..
Devon finished T8 with a pair of 73s for 147.
Individual winner was Kayla Wilbourn of the tournament hosts, the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She shot 69-72  for 141 and a three-stroke victory at the head of a field of 59 players,
Devon Spriddle figured in the winning Southern Mississippi team with a total of 593, two ahead of McNees State with Western Kentucky and Tennessee Tcch tieing for third on 596 in a field of 11 teams.

Kylie Walker has a par 72 in Sanya Ladies Open

Last-hole bogey costs Amelia lead in China

NEWS RELEASE FROM LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
From Bethan Cutler, LET Media Manager

SANYA (China): Amelia Lewis bogeyed the 18^th to fall back into a share of the lead after the first round of the Sanya Ladies Open in Hainan, China.  

The American had birdied the par-4 17^th at Yalong Bay Golf Club to move into the outright lead, but her dropped shot at the last saw her finish on five under par, alongside Thai duo Thidapa Suwannapura and Pavarisa Yoktuan.

There is a group of five players on four under comprising Sweden’s Isabella Ramsay, Norwegian Tonje Daffinrud, China’s Yan-Hong Pan, Malaysia’s Ainil Bakar and Kusuma Meechai of Thailand.

A further six players are on 69, including Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, England’s Holly Clyburn and French Solheim Cup player Gwladys Nocera.

World No.6 Shanshan Feng and the defending champion Xiyu Lin of China both carded opening 70s and are in a tie for 15^th in a group on two under par.

Feng had a slow start to her first appearance in the event, but was relatively happy to be three shots from the lead. She said: “I would say overall I did okay. Two under is not a super good score but it’s not bad. My problem today was not hitting the balls close to the pins so I didn’t have that many birdie chances, but I still made three, and a bogey on a par five. I still have two more days, so more chances.”

Feng won the Buick Championship in Shanghai in May. This is her fifth start on the Ladies European Tour in 2015 and she is trying to win the Order of Merit, which she is currently leading by approximately €79,000 over Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen who won the Helsingborg Open. 
The 22-year-old Dane is still within reach after an opening round of level par 72 and said: “It was a good score considering I hit two balls in the water and made a three-putt on number three.
"I made an up and down for par on the seventh, but I was struggling a bit on the back nine with my approach shots and couldn’t get close to the pins.” 

She and Lewis are also both making their first appearance in the Sanya Ladies Open. Lewis, a fourth year Ladies European Tour and LPGA player from Jacksonville, Florida, whose best finish was second at the 2013 New Zealand Open, said: 
“I love it here. I think it’s my favourite tournament in China. I played Blue Bay last week as well, but I really like this place.

“I hit my fairways and greens and had a lot of putts for birdie. I made a few and it was an easy, kind of a boring day. My caddie and I clicked with the numbers, my irons were good and I was sticking my shots close. I played two really good up and downs and didn’t have to force anything. I’ve gone through some swing changes and caddie changes and I’ve learned so much this year.” 

Lewis enjoys being able to combine playing on the LPGA and LET. 
 “I like having both. I would be done with my season if I wasn’t playing LET, so I like having these events to play in going into the off-season. I love it out here, I love LET. It’s a very relaxed environment and I love playing on it,” she said.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
PAR 72
Thidapa Suwannapura (THA) 67
Amelia Lewis (USA)  67
Pavarisa Yoktuan (THA) 67
Yan-Hong Pan (CHN) 68
Kusuma Meechai (THA)  68
Ainil Bakar (MYS) -4 68
Tonje Daffinrud (NOR) -4 68
Isabella Ramsay (SWE) -4 68
Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) -3 69
Ling Ling Tan (CHN) -3 69
Jing Yan (CHN) -3 69
Gwladys Nocera (FRA) -3 69
Cuixia Chen (CHN) -3 69
Holly Clyburn (ENG) -3 69
Xiyu Lin (CHN) -2 70
Cathryn Bristow (NZL) -2 70
Yu Liu (CHN) -2 70
Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (THA) -2 70
Aditi Ashok (Am) (IND) -2 70
Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) -2 70
Eleanor Givens (ENG) -2 70
Shanshan Feng (CHN) -2 70
Wanchana Poruangrong (THA) -2 70
Simin Feng (CHN) -1 71
Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS) -1 71
Ashleigh Simon (RSA) -1 71
Yuting Shi (CHN) -1 71
Beth Allen (USA) -1 71
Louise Stahle (SWE) -1 71
Emma Westin (SWE) -1 71
Anne Van Dam (NLD) -1 71
Budsabakorn Sukapan (THA) -1 71
Christine Wolf (AUT) -1 71
Isabelle Boineau (FRA) -1 71
Sophie Sandolo (ITA) -1 71
Alexandra Vilatte (FRA) -1 71
Malene Jorgensen (DEN) -1 71
Nanna Koerstz Madsen (DEN) E 72
Noora Tamminen (FIN) E 72
Aretha Pan (MYS) E 72
Ajira Nualraksa (THA) E 72
Rebecca Artis (AUS) E 72
Nicole Broch Larsen (DEN) E 72
Saraporn Chamchoi (THA) E 72
Victoria Lovelady (BRA) E 72
Kylie Walker (SCO)  72
Pei-Yun Chien (TPE) E 72
Narisara Kerdrit (THA) E 72
Michelle Koh (MYS) 1 73
Ssu-Chia Cheng (TPE) 1 73
Wichanee Meechai (THA) 1 73
Dan Li (CHN) 1 73
Valentine Derrey (FRA)  73
Senno Yasufuku (JPN)  73
Tzu-Chi Lin (TPE) 73
Nontaya Srisawang (THA)  73
Emily Kristine Pedersen (DEN) 73
Punpaka Phuntumabamrung (THA)  73
Leigh Whittaker (GER)  73

 

Bethan Cutler

Ladies European Tour

Tel: +44 (0)1895 831 028

 Stanford and O'Toole lead opening round of  Toto Japan Classic

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE 

On a beautiful day where scoring conditions were ideal, Ryann O’Toole and Angela Stanford share the lead at 7-under, 65, following the opening round of the TOTO JAPAN CLASSIC at Kintestsu Kashikojima Country Club.
“I struck the ball really well and I also putted very well,” O’Toole said. “The putts that I missed were the ones that I misread so I was rolling it really well. It was just one of those days where you point, aim and shoot.”
O’Toole had an eventful day with seven birdies, two bogeys and a hole-out eagle on the par-4 fourth.
“I had an eagle on 4, 108 yards with a gap wedge from the rough,” O’Toole explained. “I played for it to release and it went in so that was a really good eagle. I just felt like I played steady and that I could swing away with no problem.”
Stanford was able to ride a hot putter to her share of the lead.
“My putter was hot,” Stanford said. “I think I had 24 total putts and that’s pretty close to a career-low. I was reading the putts really well. I was seeing the line better than I have all year so I was very confident about the reads.”

While Stanford was a key part of the American victory at the Solheim Cup her 2015 season hasn’t played out as she would have liked and she is hoping to change that with a victory this weekend.
“I’m excited,” Stanford said of being in contention. “I haven’t been in this position much this year. It’s fun to go out and make birdies. I’m excited for the next two days.”

Chasing the duo down will be a group of five players - Ai Suzuki, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Ilhee Lee, Jenny Shin and Ha-Neul Kim - at 6-under as well as past LPGA winners Yani Tseng, Jiyai Shin, Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson who all sit two back at 5-under.

ALL THE FIRST ROUND SCORES
PAR 72

Pos	Name	1	.				.
T1	Ryann O'Toole	65
T1	Angela Stanford	65
T3	Ha-Neul Kim	66
T3	Mi Jeong Jeon	66
T3	Ilhee Lee	66
T3	Jenny Shin	66
T3	Ai Suzuki	66
T8	Stacy Lewis	67
T8	Caroline Masson	67
T8	Lexi Thompson	67
T8	Ji Hee Lee	67
T8	Pornanong Phatlum	67
T8	Jiyai Shin	67
T8	Alena Sharp	67
T8	Yani Tseng	67
T16	Yukari Nishiyama	68
T16	Sun Ju Ahn	68
T16	Misuzu Narita	68
T16	Maiko Wakabayashi	68
T20	Bo-Mee Lee	69
T20	Ha Na Jang	69
T20	Kim Kaufman	69
T20	Hyo-Joo Kim	69
T20	Sandra Gal	69
T20	Eun-Hee Ji	69
T20	Mirim Lee	69
T20	Erina Hara	69
T20	Yoko Maeda	69
T20	Miki Sakai	69
T20	Wei-Ling Hsu	69
T20	Min Lee	69
T32	Candie Kung	70
T32	Teresa Lu	70
T32	Rikako Morita	70
T32	Haru Nomura	70
T32	Kaori Ohe	70
T32	Ritsuko Ryu	70
T32	Hee Kyung Bae	70
T32	Chella Choi	70
T32	Danielle Kang	70				.
T32	Christina Kim	70
T32	Mika Miyazato	70
T32	Shiho Oyama	70
T32	Ariya Jutanugarn	70
T32	I.K. Kim	70
T32	Mo Martin	70
T32	Ayaka Matsumori	70
T32	Michelle Wie	70
T32	Mi Hyang Lee	70
T32	Momoko Ueda	70
T51	Catriona Matthew	71	.
T51	Jae-Eun Chung	71
T51	Min Seo Kwak	71
T51	Yumiko Yoshida	71
T51	Megumi Kido	71
T51	Kris Tamulis	71
T51	Karrie Webb	71
T58	Moriya Jutanugarn	72
T58	Junko Omote	72
T58	Kelly Shon	72
T58	Kumiko Kaneda	72
T58	Maria McBride	72
T58	Sakura Yokomine	72
T58	Mayu Hattori	72
T58	Jennifer Song	72
T58	Ayaka Watanabe	72
T67	Paula Creamer	73
T67	Asako Fujimoto	73
T67	Erika Kikuchi	73
T67	Lala Anai	73
T71	Hikari Fujita	74
T71	Yuko Mitsuka	74
T71	Soo-Yun Kang	74
T71	Ayako Uehara	74
T75	Mina Harigae	75
T75	Akane Iijima	75
77	Marina Alex	77
				-	-	-	-	-

Bali not so high for pros stranded there by volcanic eruption

1. If there were ever a place to be stranded, Bali would have to be it. This week Jessica Korda, So Yeon Ryu, Azahara Munoz and Beatriz Recari are in Bali for the Lexus Cup. Munoz and Recari are in the field at this week's TOTO JAPAN CLASSIC, but have been unable to make it to Japan due a volcanic eruption that closed the airport.

    The pros have made the most of their extra days, sharing selfies from the pool and celebrating the news that Munoz and Recari have been given the final tee time of the day during Friday's opening round, giving them a little extra time to make it to Japan. 

   LATER NEWS:

   Due to continued closures at the airport Munoz and Recari were forced to withdraw from the tournament, unable to make it in time.