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SINGAPORE -- Karrie Webb slipped up several weeks ago at the Australian Ladies Masters when she signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified. Cheap Brandon Flowers Jersey . For a moment at the HSBC Womens Champions on Thursday, she thought she had made a similar mistake. After shooting a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round, Webb feared she may have forgotten to sign her scorecard. She rushed back into the scoring tent only to find her scorecard was just fine. "Ive just had trouble getting out of the scorer tent since then," she said about her mistake in Australia. "I walked out (today) and couldnt remember if I signed my card, which it would have been too late anyway." Swedens Caroline Hedwall and American Paula Creamer were tied for second after shooting 5-under 67, a stroke ahead of 2012 champion Angela Stanford and Taiwans Teresa Lu in joint fourth. Disqualification aside, Webb is having a strong start to the season. A week after the ill-fated Australian Ladies Masters, she won her fifth Womens Australian Open title, and 40th overall. The 39-year-old Australian has won seven majors in her long career, but none since the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2006. Her results have been consistent, if not dominant, in recent years -- she had six top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour last year and one win at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. "Ive had a good career and I feel like I want to finish in the fashion that I started," she said. "I just continue to work hard, and my working hard now is probably a little different to my working hard 20 years ago, but its still working hard." Webb birdied four of her first six holes on Thursday, then sank a difficult 15-foot putt to save par on the par-4 11th hole. Her only mistake on the green was a close miss on the 12th hole when her birdie putt from 2 feet lipped out of the hole. Creamer has also had a fast start to the year, finishing tied for third at her first two tournaments -- the Bahamas LPGA Classic and the Womens Australian Open. Shes played well on this course in Singapore, too, finishing in third place here last year. The American hasnt had a win on the LPGA Tour, though, since her breakthrough victory at the Womens U.S. Open in 2010. "My main goal is just to be very consistent this year and a win happens by itself, you dont have to force any of that," she said. World No. 1 Inbee Park, who finished runner-up to Swedens Anna Nordqvist last week at the LPGA Thailand tournament, had a 2-under 70 and was in a tie for seventh with four others. Park, the winner of three majors last year, could lose her top ranking to Suzann Pettersen this week if the Norwegian wins the event and Park doesnt finish higher than a tie for third. Pettersen had a 1-under 71 on Thursday for equal 12th place. "It wasnt a bad putting day, but I hit the ball great today," Park said. "And I didnt get myself in big trouble so thats good." Sixteen-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand struggled with her putting, making just two birdies and finishing at 1-over 73, tied for 27th place with Nordqvist, American Michelle Wie, former No. 1 Yani Tseng and several others. Ko is not the youngest in the field this week. Fifteen-year-old Singaporean Amanda Tan won a qualifying tournament in January to become the youngest-ever player at the HSBC Champions. She was in last place after a 7-over 79. Lance Alworth Jersey . The Denver Nuggets played as though they were already relaxing on a tropical beach. Love started practicing early for All-Star festivities, making six of 11 shots from 3-point range and totalling 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Timberwolves to a 117-90 victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday night. Dwight Freeney Chargers Jersey . PAUL, Minn.MELBOURNE, Australia - The injuries mounted at the Australian Open on Tuesday, although for the most part, players coped with the oppressive heat. No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Despite temperatures reaching 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) during the afternoon and a hot breeze gusting over Melbourne Park for most of the day, none of the withdrawals were apparently linked to the temperatures. Isner retired from his match against Slovakias Martin Klizan with a lingering ankle injury that he said got progressively worse at the Hopman Cup event in Perth and a tournament he won in Auckland, New Zealand, over the past two weeks. "I know movement is not the best part of my game," the 2.08-meter (6-foot-10) American said, "but at a certain point Ive got to be able to move without pain and I wasnt able to do that today." He withdrew before last years Australian Open with an injury, as well. "I thought I had a good shot at playing this match and winning this match and I pulled out," he said. "I could have done the same last year, but I went home." The other seeded player in his section of the draw, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, withdrew before his scheduled first-round match agaainst Slovenian Aljaz Bedene with a left hamstring injury. Brandon Flowers Chargers Jersey. He was replaced in the draw by Frenchman Stephane Robert, a lucky loser from qualifying, who defeated Bedene to reach the second round. Hometown favourite Bernard Tomic later retired with a left leg injury after losing the first set against top-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4, much to the astonishment of the Rod Laver Arena crowd, who initially booed him. "It was very difficult for me to say sorry to the crowd," he said. "I dont think they quite knew what was wrong with me." Tomic suffered the injury in training on Monday. Czech veteran Radek Stepanek also retired from his match against Slovenian Blaz Kavcic with a neck injury while leading 7-6 (3), 6-4, 1-6, 0-2 after nearly three hours of play. A few other players struggled in the heat on Tuesday, but finished their matches. Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic said he blacked out during his 7-6 (12), 6-3, 6-4 loss to No. 27-seeded Benoit Paire of France. Dancevic, who required medical attention during the second set, questioned the wisdom of not suspending matches during the torridly hot conditions. "I dont think its fair to anybody, to the players, to the fans, to the sport when you see players pulling out of matches and passing out," he said. "I think its definitely hazardous to be out there. Its dangerous." ' ' ' |
