World Golf News - 23 February 2011

The European Tour made a stop in India at the weekend following an exciting Middle Easter leg that came to an end last week. In the city of New Dehli, local favourite SSP Chowrasia charged to victory beating his nearest competitor, England’s Robert Coles. Lifting the trophy on a final day marked by entertaining golf and much fanfare from local supporters, Chowrasia commented on his preparedness and focus which he considers key to success on the golf course.

The European Tour will take a two week break from this week as players travel to the United States for the Accenture Matchplay Championship and World Golf Championships, returning to the Continent in March for the Sicilian Open.

In the United States, the Northern Trust Open was won by Australia’s Aaron Baddeley, two shots ahead of veteran golfer Vijay Singh. Sinking a cool and collected putt for par on the final hole during glorious weather at the Riviera Country Club, Baddeley seemed both relieved and elated as he raised his arms in celebration. The Australian, who sank to under 200 on the world money list while reinventing his swing, appears to be recovering some of his former glory on the US PGA Tour. For his part, Singh seemed excited about a top ten finish, which could spell the beginning of a comeback for the much-loved golfer from Fiji.

On the LPGA, world number one Yani Tseng of Taiwan was on top form again at the weekend when she won the LPGA Thailand championship by two strokes over American Michelle Wie. With a thundering front nine, Tseng carded six birdies in the first thirteen holes of play, until a bogey at the fourteenth presented a brief bump in the road. Not to be discouraged, however, the world number one rebounded with a birdie at the fifteenth and pared the remaining holes to finish six under par.