sakura

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Jessica Korda laughed about her winning up-and-down and being sprayed with shaving cream. Francisco Garcia Jersey . She choked up, too, thinking about her cancer-stricken coach. The 20-year-old Korda won the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic on Sunday for her second tour title, holing a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Stacy Lewis by a stroke. Korda recently started working again with Grant Price after struggling with a swing she felt led to left shoulder and wrist injuries. „Grant means so much to me,“ Korda said. „Hes so positive, and thats really kind of shown. Its given me a lot of confidence this week. His positivity, and hes like, Youre going to be ready for this week. Youre going to be ready for this week. … Him being on the range and constantly kind of encouraging the positive in me, into my mind, it helped me so much.“ Price, Hall of Famer Nick Prices nephew, is fighting testicular cancer. „Ive known Grant since I was 15 years old, so I know how it is and whats going on,“ Korda said. „But first thing I did, and I asked him, I was like, Can you help me? And if you cant, its completely OK. Like, If you dont feel up to it, then its fine. Like, I dont mind, but I need to know if youre going to be OK first. And thats how every practice started.“ Korda closed with a 7-under 66 for a 19-under 273 total at Atlantis Resorts Ocean Club. The third-ranked Lewis parred the final four holes — two of them par 5s — for a 66. „I only birdied the 18th hole once this week and that made the difference,“ Lewis said. „Three of the four days I went over the green to the same place, so obviously that wasnt the place to be. But you are not doing a lot wrong if you a finish second. And thats what Ill take away from this week.“ Korda tied Lewis for the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, then got up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 18th. Kordas 4-iron approach on 18 scampered through the green and up against the grandstand. She took relief from the grandstand and, with an official and a TV announcer holding up cords that would have interfered with her stroke, putted under the wires to set up the winning birdie. „That was different,“ Korda said. „It was like jump rope. … It was like Double Dutch. I was jumping over wires with people holding onto them. It was really funny.“ She passed on a drop that would have moved her away from the cables. „It wasnt a hard decision at all,“ Korda said. „I felt I had a good lie there. It looked too difficult on either side, so I just stayed right where I was. I remember when I had the pleasure of playing with Jack Nicklaus, he told me a bad putt is always better than a bad chip.“ After the winning putt, she was sprayed with shaving cream — courtesy of tournament sponsor Pure Silk. „I smell really good. It smells really good,“ said Korda, whose father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open tennis tournament and mother, Regina Raichrtova, also played pro tennis. Korda earned $195,000 and is projected to jump from 40th to 26th in the world ranking. She also won the 2012 Womens Australian Open in the first event of the season. „Its unbelievable,“ Korda said. „I dont know, maybe I pay attention more to detail, and Im more relaxed out here. But whatever it is, I need to figure it out and do it more often.“ Lewis birdied six of the first eight holes, then dropped a stroke on the par-4 ninth. She birdied the par-5 11th and par-4 14th to reach 18 under, but closed with four straight pars. On 18, her flop shot came up short and her 15-foot birdie try stopped inches from the cup. „Its very frustrating,“ Lewis said. „The 18th hole has gotten me the last couple tournaments.“ Paula Creamer, paired with Korda all four days, had a 69 to tie for third with Na Yeon Choi, Lizette Salas and Pornanong Phatlum at 16 under. Phatlum finished with a 67, Salas had a 71, and Choi shot 72. Lydia Ko, the 16-year-old New Zealander making her first start as an LPGA Tour member, had a 68 to tie for seventh at 15 under. She won the Canadian Womens Open the last two years as an amateur. Nate Archibald Jersey . — Terrelle Pryor took the opening snap of the game, put the ball in Darren McFaddens belly and saw LaMarr Woodley crash down. Wayman Tisdale Jersey . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games.KAPALUA, Hawaii – Bae Sang-Moon doesnt get enough credit for his sense of humour, which he served up when he arrived at Kapalua for the Hyundai Tournament of Championship. Upon spotting a familiar face in the media, Bae broke into a big smile and said, I made big news, huh?On Friday, he made news for his golf.Facing uncertainty at home, the 28-year-old from South Korea showed a clear mind on the Plantation Course at Kapalua. He opened with six birdies in eight holes and at one point was four shots clear of the field until he slowed on the back nine. Bae had to settle for a 7-under 66, one shot behind Russell Henley after the opening round of the first PGA Tour event of the year.A little bit hard to focus on my game because I got a little trouble, Bae said. But I try to split things. But I dont want to think about it, the other things on the course. So yeah, I think I did really good today. I really want to the next three days, also.The trouble — the big news to which Bae referred was his two-year mandatory military service. Bae received a deferment and was granted an overseas travel permit to play golf around the world, mainly in America. But there is debate over how much time he spent at home, and the government has denied an extension of the travel permit.Bae has hired a legal firm to help sort this out, though it didnt help earlier in the week when his comments didnt translate clearly. He said he was not going back to Korea, which caused a stir back home. What he meant was that he not required to be in Korea while the law firm deals with the matter.He kept his comments to a minimum on Friday, laughing when someone suggested everyone else seemed more concerned about his future than he did. And when asked if he felt a sense of urgency to play well in case his travel permit is taken away, he hedged before saying, I dont know. Just play.Bae did that beautifully on Friday, and he had company.The putter might be the best club in Henleys bag, and it feels even better when he knows where the rest of his shots are going. Henley sought the help of swing coach Scott Hamilton over the summer as hhe tried to build a swing that was more on plane, more shallow than steep and a lot simpler. Sacramento Kings Gear. The changes are starting to take — he was runner-up at the Deutsche Bank Championship and tied for fourth at the McGladrey Classic — and when the putter warms up, his confidence only grows.Henley played bogey-free and made eight birdies, with four of those birdies from 20 feet or longer.I kept the ball in front of me pretty decent today, and didnt scare too many chances at bogey, Henley said. But my main thing was obviously I putted great and was seeing the lines today. If I can putt like that every day, I would probably have a few more wins.Ben Crane and Kevin Stadler were the only players not to break par. They each shot 74.The first tournament of the year always shows who has been working and who needs to shake off some rust. Most players have not competed in nearly two months, except those who were at the Hero World Challenge the first week of December or played overseas.Masters champion Bubba Watson played in Thailand to close out his best year ever, and he has been at Kapalua for the last week before his shots counted. He had a 70, a reasonable start, though he has yet to break 69 in 12 rounds on the Plantation Course.This was the day to do it. Its rare when the flags arent moving, though even a relatively calm day doesnt make it that easy. The greens are among the largest, and the grain and slope can prove tricky even to the regulars in this winners-only event.Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed, who joined Watson as the only multiple winners on tour last year who are at Kapalua, led a group at 67 that included Scott Stallings, Robert Streb and Ben Martin, who chipped in for eagle on the 18th with a shot that would have gone 20 feet by the hole if it hadnt banged into the pin.Matt Kuchar, never far from the hunt, was among those at 68.The only thing to interrupt this working vacation was the starting time Saturday. Because of the NFL playoffs, the first group had to get up pre-dawn for a 7:15 a.m. HST tee time. But theyre in Hawaii. There is no cut. They can manage. ‚ ‚ ‚