Los Altos Golf Company

Norman has cut back on his playing schedule in recent years The 51-year-old Australian is making a rare European Tour appearance in this week’s Dubai Desert Classic.”I don’t have the motivation I used to,” said the man who gained the nickname the ‘Great White Shark’.”Ernie Els will walk off the 18th green after a pro-am, go to the range and hit more balls. That’s what you need to do and I have no interest in doing that.”Norman, who has myriad business interests, added he gets more pleasure now out of designing
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KARRIE Webb arrived at the practice range at Royal Sydney to warm up for her round in the pro-am and had to wait for a spot to become available.

That has not happened to her before, but she was quite chuffed.

Webb saw it as an indication of the work ethic and professionalism of the new breed of women golfers.

And this Australian Open, revived after a two-year absence, is a showcase of this country’s emerging talent. It is not immediately obvious in the world rankings - Webb is No.3, with Nikki Campbell (52), Rachel Hetherington (62) and Lindsey Wright (95) the only other Australians in the top 100.

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MIHO Mori turned 14 in December. At an age when most kids are contemplating the beginning of another school year, Miho is in Sydney playing the Australian Open.

Officials believe the Japanese teenager is the youngest player in Australian Open history, no mean feat in a tournament of this size and stature.

She gained her place in the quality field after winning the girls division at the Aaron Baddeley International Junior Championship in China in December, blitzing the competition by five shots thanks to two sub-70 rounds to close the tournament.

Her reward was a
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KARRIE Webb could prove the architect of her own undoing at the Australian Open after Rachel Hetherington said she was keen on making her own revival.

Hetherington, without a win in the US since taking out the Rochester LPGA event in 2003, has fallen to 62 in the world but believes she is ready to turn the corner after switching coaches midway through last year.

The eight-time winner on the US LPGA Tour parted ways with long-time mentor Ian Triggs, who coincidentally works with Webb, and formed an alliance with David Whelan, the director of golf at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida.

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WHEN Karrie Webb tees off at Royal Sydney today, the widest eyes in the gallery will belong to her youngest protege.

Aged just 12, Ruby Curtin this week competed against - and beat - women up to four times her age in the finals of Australia’s largest women’s golf tournament.

Still a week shy of starting high school, Curtin yesterday finished the nationwide Fisher & Paykel Classic fourth out of 22,000 competitors.

Competing against 11 other finalists at Terrey Hills and Pymble over the past two days, she fired a 12-over-par with a handicap to finish nine points adrift of the 34-year-old winner.

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THEY are the fresh new faces spreading the gospel of Australian golf on women’s Tours around the world.

Nikki Garrett is Europe’s 2006 rookie of the year, Nikki Campbell won the Suntory Open and almost $600,000 in Japan, and Lindsey Wright finished in the US LPGA’s top-50 money list.

Yesterday they were unanimous … today’s opening round of the MFS Australian Open at Royal Sydney will be contested on one of the most testing courses they have encountered.

“I think it is one of the toughest courses any of us has played,” said Campbell. “The greens are very slopey and it’s going to be difficult in the wind.”

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THEY are the fresh new faces spreading the gospel of Australian golf on women’s tours around the world.

Nikki Garrett is Europe’s 2006 rookie of the year, Nikki Campbell won the Suntory Open and almost $600,000 in Japan, and Lindsey Wright finished in the US Ladies Professional Golf Association’s top-50 money list.

Yesterday they were unanimous … today’s opening round of the MFS Australian Open at Royal Sydney will be contested on one of the most testing courses they have encountered.

“I think it is one of the toughest courses any of us has played,” said Campbell. “The greens are very slopey and it’s going to be difficult in the wind.”

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WOMEN’S world matchplay champion Brittany Linicome tackles today’s opening round of the Australian Open without any practice at Royal Sydney.

After a delayed flight from the United States, Linicome walked the course late yesterday with her father who also doubles as her caddie.

They had been in transit more than 20 hours, but the 21-year-old American said she was not fatigued.

“I slept most of the way. I’m fine right now and we will walk the holes before going to our hotel,” she said.

Linicome could not schedule her trip earlier as she was committed to playing events in her home state of Florida earlier this week.

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DAVID Beckham’s quest for super-stardom in the United States has drawn support from current top draw Tiger Woods.

The wealthiest and most recognised sportsman in the world said that the former England skipper knows what he is doing in moving from Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid to the footballing backwaters of the LA Galaxy.

“I think in Los Angeles, we’ve lost basically two football teams, the Rams and the Raiders moved out,” he said.

“Now we’re looking for something else and I think with David’s star power there, I think it will bring another notch and another thing for all of us in southern California to come out and watch and observe.”

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CHINA’S Zhong Xiaolong, Teresa Lu of Taiwan and American Libby Smith all carded level-par 72s to share the lead after round one of the Hong Kong Ladies Masters today (AEDT).

The three were just one shot ahead on a congested leaderboard, with Zhang Na, Tseng Hsiu Feng, Lee Eun-kyoung and Yoshie Yoshida all on 73 in the $US80,000 ($104,000) tournament at Discovery Bay Golf Club.

The teenage defending champion, Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand, was within striking distance after a 74, sharing eighth spot with India’s Irina Brar, Japan’s Kaori Yamada and Fame More of England.

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GREG Norman can empathise with Nick O’Hern.

After all Norman, who’ll tomorrow line up in his first tournament since November alongside the likes of fellow Australian O’Hern at the Dubai Desert Classic, has been pipped for a tournament victory by a brilliant shot or two in his time as well.

After more than 150 starts O’Hern had looked set to grab his breakthrough European Tour win at the Qatar Masters earlier last week when Retief Goosen sank a stunning 18-metre eagle putt to snatch the title.

But Norman, famously denied the 1986 US PGA and 1987 US Masters titles by miracle shots, believes O’Hern will grow from the disappointment of last Sunday.

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TIGER Woods defends his Dubai Desert Classic title starting tomorrow (AEDT) coming off his seventh straight USPGA tournament win at the Buick Invitational in California on Sunday.

The world No.1 captured the Gulf region’s premier trophy at his third attempt last year defeating South Africa’s Ernie Els in a dramatic play-off.

And he says that after a winter break during which he and his wife Elin announced that they were expecting their first child in the summer that all was set fair for what he hoped would be a stellar year.

“It was great to win early in the year prior to Augusta (Masters),” he said after completing the pro-am tournament on Wednesday.

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Rancho Mirage, CA - Michelle Wie has been given a sponsor’s exemption to play in the LPGA Tour’s first major championship of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Wie will be making her fifth appearance at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and her second as a professional. Last year, she was certainly a factor in her first major championship as a professional, tying for third place.

Wie was one of seven professionals to get sponsor’s exemptions, including Gwladys Nocera of France, Linda Wessberg of Sweden, Ji-Yai Shin of Korea, Hee- Young Park, Shiho Oyama and Mi-Jeong Jeon.

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Wentworth, England - The International Federation of PGA Tours announced on Tuesday that Omega has signed an agreement to become the title sponsor of the Mission Hills World Cup.

The International Federation of PGA Tours will still sanction the event, but it will no longer be part of the World Golf Championships series.

The 12-year contract means that Mission Hills Golf Club in China will host the event through 2018.

The 2007 tournament will be staged at the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills, designed by the two-time Masters champion, Jose Maria Olazabal. Germany will be the defending champion when the event tees off November 22-25.

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Mt. Pleasant, SC - Annika Sorenstam announced on Tuesday that she has given a special exemption to 14-year-old MacKinzie Kline for Sorenstam’s event, the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika.

Kline is one of the top-rated junior golfers, but also has a rare heart condition. Kline can not walk long distances without getting fatigued, so the LPGA announced that Kline will become the first player in tour history to be allowed to use a cart.

‘MacKinzie is a very unique and determined young lady and we are thrilled to have her play in the Ginn Tribute,’ said Sorenstam. ‘What she has accomplished, not only in golf, but for the community is extraordinary.’

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Minneapolis, MN - FACTS & STATS: Course Architects: Willie Watson/Robert Foulis (1898), Robert Taylor, Robert Foulis/C.T. Jaffray (1907), Thomas Bendelow (1908), Donald Ross (1916-20), Ralph Plummer (1961), Geoffrey Cornish/Craig Schriner (1988-1990s), Ron Prichard (2001-03). Year Opened: 1898. Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota. Slope: 142. Rating: 73.4. Par: 72. Yardage: 6,775.

Hole-by-Hole:

1 - Par 4 311 Yds 10 - Par 4 434 Yds

2 - Par 4 436 Yds 11 - Par 3 180 Yds

3 - Par 3 171 Yds 12 - Par 4 390 Yds

4 - Par 5 514 Yds 13 - Par 5 574 Yds

5 - Par 4 308 Yds 14 - Par 4 476 Yds

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Howell won the Dubai Desert Classic eight years ago Howell outscored Woods to win the HSBC Champions Trophy in November 2005 and is hoping for a repeat this week.”A lot of things have to go your way,” Howell said of defending champion Woods, who claimed his seventh straight PGA Tour title in San Diego on Sunday.”But first, you have to play well on the Sunday when the pressure is on.”
David Howell Woods overturned
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Casey thumped Shaun Micheel to win last year’s event at Wentworth The company, which signed a 10-year deal to back the event in 2003, say this year’s tournament at Wentworth in October will be its last.HSBC has decided to switch its main focus to the Champions tournament in China after this year.”It’s been a very difficult decision,” said HSBC head of global sports marketing and sponsorship Giles Morgan.”We’ve had five great years, but have decided as a business it’s time to move on.”We are going to leave
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KARRIE Webb starts most tournaments these days with a target on her back.

So it came as no surprise yesterday when British superstar Laura Davies claimed the winner of this week’s Australian Open would be the person who completed the four rounds one shot clear of the Queenslander.

Such is the price Webb pays for her success on the world stage. Her resume features more than 35 wins worldwide, including seven in majors, and, at the age of 32 she shows no signs of slowing down, having recently completed one of the best years of her career.

In 2006, Webb won five tournaments,
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LAURA Davies says golfers sell golf. The veteran British campaigner could not be more wrong.

The Australian Open has not been played for the past two years and it is because promoting the tournaments was based on flogging women’s golfing skills. So the tournaments fell over.

The event has a history of fainting. It was first played in 1974, lasted to 1977, reappeared in 1994, was not played in 1999 and keeled over after 2004. By then corporate sponsorship was meek, crowd attendance small, interest from clubs to host the event waning.

In the end the Open was a dud
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SEX sells in women’s golf, and Women’s Australian Open favourite Karrie Webb says it is no big deal.

American bombshell Natalie Gulbis, used to promote the Women’s Australian Open with her glamorous looks, has been in the firing line from some quarters for her appearance fee for the visit to Australia.

“If a girl chooses to do that, I have absolutely no qualms,” Webb said yesterday.

“I don’t see anything wrong with taking an opportunity to promote themselves and the sport . . . provided it is done tastefully.”

Webb was not so sure about
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Siem (L) and Langer won the World Cup for Germany last year Under a 12-year contract with a new title sponsor, the event will be staged at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen.The World Cup will also lose its six-year association with the World Golf Championships.The two-man team competition has been a WGC event since 2000 when Tiger Woods and David Duval won the title for America in Argentina.The World Cup began as the Canada Cup in 1953 but in recent years has struggled to attract the world’s biggest
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FORGET world No.1 Annika Sorenstam, resurgent Australian Karrie Webb is the golfer to beat in 2007.

That’s the opinion of Englishwoman Laura Davies after Webb surged back into the sport’s upper echelon last year.

After a couple of lean seasons by her standards Webb won five times in 2006, including a seventh major at the Nabisco Championship, to finish second to Mexican Lorena Ochoa on the money list with over $2.7 million in earnings.

Currently ranked third in the world behind Sorenstam and Ochoa, Webb has targeted a return to the top of the pecking order this year and Davies - herself a former world No.1 - likes the Queenslander’s chances.
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US OPEN champion Geoff Ogilvy, refreshed after a fortnight’s break, returns to the PGA Tour this week with high hopes and the Masters uppermost in his mind. Although the big-hitting Australian capped a career-best campaign in 2006 with his first World Golf Championships title and a breakthrough major victory, he believes he can perform at a higher level.

“I could definitely play better than I did last year,” Ogilvy said during preparation for this week’s Phoenix Open close to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“When I did play well, I played really well but when I didn’t have good weeks, I wasn’t nearly as sharp as I wanted to.
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The hole is an amphitheater with bleachers running from tee-to-green. Tour events average somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 a day and in the low 100,000s for the week.

The raucous 16th hole is normally surrounded by 20,000-plus each day and crowds average well over 100,000 daily. Last year, the event saw a record weekend crowd of over 536,000.

Buffeting the crowd are students from nearby Arizona State University. One of their own, Phil Mickelson, headlines the field this week. Mickelson claimed the NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur in the same year, while a student at ASU.

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Philadelphia, PA - Michelle Wie dipped two places this week in the Rolex World Rankings for women’s golf.

The LPGA Tour won’t see its first full-field tournament until the middle of February, but there are weekly changes to the rankings.

Annika Sorenstam, of course, is still the No. 1 player in the world. The next eight players held onto their positions as well: Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Cristie Kerr, Juli Inkster, Ai Miyazato, Jeong Jang, Paula Creamer and Shiho Ohyama remained in spots 2-9.

Pat Hurst moved up one place to 10th, dropping Se-Ri Pak to 11th. Hee-Won
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Philadelphia, PA - Tiger Woods’ win at the Buick Invitational on Sunday increased his overall lead in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The victory was Woods’ fifth at Torrey Pines and his seventh straight title in PGA Tour starts (four shy of Byron Nelson’s all-time record). He now leads No. 2 Jim Furyk by 11.88 average points — up from his 10.91-point lead last week.

By comparison, Furyk is separated from the No. 50 golfer in the world by less than seven points.

Adam Scott remained third behind Furyk and Ernie Els moved up to fourth, knocking Phil Mickelson to fifth.

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TIGER Woods heads to Dubai to defend his Desert Classic title this week fresh from his seventh straight US PGA Tour triumph, but insists his main focus remains Major championships. Woods now owns a streak of seven consecutive victories in as many starts in US PGA Tour events - beginning with the Open championship at Hoylake last year.

Only Byron Nelson’s amazing 11 straight wins in 1945 is longer, and Woods said Sunday after his victory in the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines that he was delighted to be in such esteemed company.

However, he said
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By Matt Slater
Golf editor

Rose’s November win was the climax of two great months of golf Rose finished 2006 in superb form and he just missed his first US win at the Bob Hope Classic earlier this month.”I think the transition work and getting comfortable out there has been done,” said the 26-year-old.”Whether I have a big year or not, I at least have the opportunity to do so. I have every chance to really kick on.”Rose,
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CHARLIE Earp knew he had something special on his hands when Andrew Buckle took up residence on the practice range at Royal Queensland nearly 20 years ago.

Earp knew that, like his former charge Greg Norman, Buckle had a work ethic that stood out.

He can vividly recall driving past the range in pouring rain and seeing a shadowy figure in the distance.

“It was piddling down and my wife Margie turned to me and said ‘who’s that?”‘ Earp said yesterday.

“I said ‘that’s the next world champion’. She said ‘who, Andrew Buckle?’. She didn’t have to ask me who it was.

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