Webby! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...

Oi, oi, oi!!

A great win by by Karrie today in my hometown at the wonderful Tanah Merah Country Club, has me wondering - is she's back? I tell you what, if she plays like she did this week for the rest of the year, then look out Ya-ni.37 career wins on the LPGA, with 7 majors and already a Hall Of Famer, we - or at least I do, tend to think of her as an elder statesman, but she is only 36. She also has a new attitude that I like - a lot. Webby in the past, did not take poor shots well and it showed. While not quite in the Suzanne Pettersson mold, she was close and I think it stopped her from winning even more than she has. After ten holes today, she was three back of the leader Chie Arimura and seemingly treading water. Five birdies in the next six holes had her in front by one and a couple of solid pars on two of the toughest holes on the course, 17 and 18, had her safely home from Chie and Ya-ni three shots further adrift.

Chie is good, very good. She didn't lose this one today, rather Karrie won it. The same should be said for Ya-ni. Brilliant golf in tough conditions and no one gave an inch. Golf at it's best and they way it should be played - no quarter given, nor asked. At one point on the back nine, some goose was taking photos on the tee and Karrie had to back off twice. Ya- ni  raced over to the offender and gave him a glare that would have made Stevie proud. It made me proud, because it was another player that she was helping out and I thought that was very, very cool.

Ya-ni made a great bid for her fifth win in a row and after going out 5 under, had me thinking that she was going to give it a shake. The back nine though, was playing tough and exacted it's revenge on her and gave Karrie it's blessing instead. Chie, as I said is very good. A 7 time winner on the Japan Ladies Tour, and still a relative unknown outside of Japan, she impressed me with her never give up game. A couple of times over the past two days, she looked a little shaky, but instead of going away, she just kept on keeping on. Watch her this year in the majors. She has the game to win one and soon.

The golf course was in magnificent condition, but playing tough. Windy Singapore! This week has been really windy, even for this time of the year and made the course play even tougher than usual. The girls were playing the blue mens tees (not quite the tips, but not far off it) on most holes and while TMCC is not overly long, it is a tough test of every facet of the game. It's probably my favorite course here, mainly because it reminds me a lot of Aussie courses. Elevated greens, with loads of slopes and breaks and deep, good bunkering. 

Great crowds today too and the girls gave them their money's worth. One thing the men could learn from them, is the way they interact with the fans. They couldn't do enough for both sponsors and public and  they did with genuine pleasure. These girls really do rock!