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Davis Love III joins 2013 Colonial field as sponsor's exemption

Davis Love III, winner of 20 PGA Tour events and captain of last year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team, has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to compete at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth. Love will be making his 24^th Colonial appearances, with runner-up finishes in 1987 and 2000.

_ Jimmy Burch

Guan Tianlang, 14-year-old who won low amateur at Masters, joins field for 2013 Nelson

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old who finished as low amateur at the 2013 Masters while competing as the youngest player in tournament history, accepted a sponsor’s exemption today to play in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 13-19 in Irving.

Guan, an eighth-grader from Guangzhou, China, is the reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion and has made the cut in both of his appearances at PGA Tour events this season. In addition to being low amateur at the Masters, where he was the only one of six amateurs to make the 36-hole cut, Guan finished 71^st in Sunday’s final round at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Included was a second-round 69 that helped him survive the cut.

“What Guan has been able to accomplish at such a young age is very impressive” said Mike McKinley, 2013 Nelson tournament chairman. “We have always had a tradition of identifying young talent and giving them an opportunity to compete at the Nelson. We look forward to continuing that with Guan.”

At the 2010 Nelson, Dallas resident Jordan Spieth tied for 16^th while competing as a 16-year-old junior in high school. Guan will become the youngest competitor in Nelson tournament history.

Other golfers to join the Nelson field Monday were Dustin Johnson, the No. 19 player in the world golf rankings, and Marcel Siem, a native of Germany who will be competing on a foreign exemption. Siem won a European Tour event in Morocco earlier this season and tied for 10^th at the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open.

_ Jimmy Burch

Spaniard Ciganda leads North Texas LPGA Shootout by two strokes

Carlota Ciganda, a 22-year-old from Pamplona, Spain, and in her second full year as a pro out of Arizona State, blazed her way to six birdies and only one bogey for a 5-under 66 and a two-stroke lead Saturday after the third round of the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club.

Ciganda is at 11-under 202 after 54 holes going into Sunday's final round in Irving.

World No. 1 Inbee Park of South Korea and first- and second-round leader Caroline Masson of Germany are tied for second place. Park fired a 67 Saturday and Masson regrouped from a stumbling start that included a double bogey and a bogey for a 69.

World No. 3 Na Yeon Choi of South Korea made a quick charge Saturday morning and finished with a 66 and is alone in fourth place at 205.

Fort Worth resident and Saginaw native Angela Stanford couldn't get her game going and dropped into a tie for 26th with a 72-211, nine strokes out of the lead.

The two high school qualifiers, Haley Mills of Fort Worth and Taylor Coleman of San Antonio Johnson,  fell below the third-round projected cut line. Mills shot 76-220 and Coleman, who opened with a 68 on Thursday, shot 78-223.

-- Vince Langford

 

LPGA Shootout in Irving has logjam for the lead in early Saturday birdie binge

Na Yeon Choi, the South Korean golfer ranked No. 3 in the world, birdied three of the first four holes Saturday and grabbed a share of the lead early in the third round Saturday at at North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving.

The leaders teed off around noon Saturday and Caroline Masson of Germany, the leader from the start Thursday after an opening 7-under 64, immediately stumbled with a double bogey on the first hole and fell into a tie for fourth at 5 under. Carlota Ciganda, who trailed Masson by one shot starting the day, was even after two holes.

Shanshan Feng of China eagled the second hole and quickly caught Choi and Ciganda, tied for the top at 6 under par. Feng became the first Chinese winner on the LPGA Tour last year.

Paula Creamer. hurt by opening Thursday with a 73, rose quickly up the leader board with three birdies on the first six holes but bogeyed the ninth hole and was out at 34 in her third round.

 

LPGA tournament at Irving: Stanford 4 shots back, Germany's Masson leads by 1

Caroline Masson, a 23-year-old European tour veteran from Germany, went to 10 under for the tournament before backpedaling and finishing with an even-par 71 and a 7-under-par 135 total after the second round of the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving.

Masson at one point had a four-stroke lead on Spain's Carlota Ciganda but ended Friday with only a one-stroke lead. Ciganda posted a 1-under 70 early Friday and was at 6 under for the tournament.

Masson opened with a 64 on Thursday and Ciganda had a 66.

Fort Worth resident Angela Stanford started her day on the back nine with two quick birdies to go to 4 under for the tournament, went to 5 under with a birdie on No. 4, her 13th hole of the day, but a late bogey had her back to 4 under.

World No. 1 Inbee Park of South Korea finished at 1-under 70 and was tied for third at 5-under 137.

Moriya Jutangarn of Thailand posted the low round of 5-under 66 and was in fourth place at 5 under for the tournament, two strokes behind Masson.

San Antonio Johnson sophomore Taylor Coleman, who opened with a 68 on Thursday, came back with a 6-over 77 on Friday, but was above the projected cut line with a 3-over 145 total.

-- Vince Langford

 

Spaniard cuts stroke off Masson's lead early in round 2 of North Texas LPGA Shootout

Some of the most appealing pairings for the North Texas LPGA Shootout have teed off Friday for Dallas-Fort Worth golf fans who can head to Las Colinas Country Club in North Texas for the second round.

The afternoon pairings include leader Caroline Masson, Natalie Gulbis and Brittany Lincicome (12:43); world No. 2 and Texan Stacy Lewis, venerable Suzann Pettersen and Lizette Salas, the daughter of Mexican immigrants who lost a heart-breaker playoff to Pettersen last week in Hawaii; (12:54), and Paula Creamer, Ai Miyazato and Beatriz Recari (1:05 p.m.).

Saginaw native and Fort Worth resident Angela Stanford has birdied her first two holes of the day and after shooting a 69 on Thursday is 4 under for the tournament, three shots behind Masson.

Carlota Ciganda has finished her second round with a 1-under 70, and is 6 under for the tournament, cutting a stroke off Masson's two-stroke lead after the first round. Masson was even for the day after her first holes of Round 2. Ciganda, from Spain, and Masson, of Germany and used to the American Southwest after playing one year at Oklahoma State, shape up as potential stars on the LPGA tour.

San Antonio Johnson High School sophomore Taylor Coleman was even through four holes after teeing off at 12:30. She shot a 68 on Thursday.

Follow the LPGA live scoreboard.

Tweet of the Day on Thursday, from the LPGA webiste:

“Hey @barackobama when you are done dedicating libraries and kissin babies, I'm at 2:11 off of 1. Las Colinas golf club. Hope to see ya then” -- @CindyLaCrosse’s message to the president who was in Dallas to celebrate the opening of the George W. Bush Library

 

-- Vince Langford

Spieth, Corpening added to Colonial field as Champions' Choice exemptions

Dallas teen phenom Jordan Spieth, one of the hottest rookies on the PGA Tour, joined former TCU golfer Franklin Corpening as Champions’ Choice exemptions to compete at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth.

Michael Tothe, Colonial tournament director, announced the latest additions to the field today. Both players were added through a vote of past Colonial champions, who select two promising newcomers each year to compete for the first time in Fort Worth as sponsor’s exemptions.

Spieth, 19, was a finalist for the 2012 Ben Hogan Award and has earned $662,398 in seven PGA Tour events this season, including a tie for second at the Puerto Rico Open. Spieth has posted three top-10 finishes at tour events since March 10 while competing under a special temporary membership.

Corpening, 28, is a Colonial member and Fort Worth Paschal High School graduate who played college golf at TCU. Corpening, who competes on the Web.com Tour, will be making his PGA Tour debut at Colonial. He has made the cut in all four events he has entered this season on the Web.com Tour, with his best finish a tie for 22^nd at the Chile Classic on March 10. Corpening has earned $11,873 on the Web.com Tour this season.

Spieth, who helped lead Texas to the 2012 national championship in his lone college season, tied for ninth in Sunday’s final round at the RBC Heritage and also is committed to play in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 13-19 in Irving. Spieth made his PGA Tour debut as an amateur at the 2010 Nelson, where he finished in a tie for 16^th while competing as a 16-year-old.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

High school sophomore from San Antonio fires 68 in LPGA tournament

Taylor Coleman, a sophomore at San Antonio Johnson who last week won the UIL Class 5A Regional IV tournament, shot a 3-under 68 Thursday and was four strokes behind clubhouse leader Caroline Masson's 64 at the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving.

Coleman, 16, and Haley Mills, a student at Jim McLean Junior Academy in Fort Worth, were the two high school players who qualified for North Texas' first full-field LPGA tournament since the 1991 U.S. Women's Open in Fort Worth.

Masson, a tour rookie from Germany, made seven birdies for her 7-under score.

Angela Stanford, the Saginaw resident and former TCU standout who is a five-time LPGA tournament champion, shot a 2-under 69.

World No. 1 Inbee Park was alone in second place among the early finishers with a 67. 

Go here for the LPGA live scoreboard.

Kuchar, Oosthuizen, Schwartzel join field for 2013 Nelson

Officials at the HP Byron Nelson Championship announced today that Matt Kuchar, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have joined the field for their PGA Tour event, May 13-19 in Irving. The trio of additions means five of the top 20 players in the world golf rankings, including past champions Jason Dufner (2012) and Keegan Bradley (2011), have committed to play at the Nelson.  

Other past champions on the Nelson commitment list include Jason Day, Vijay Singh and Scott Verplank. Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion and No. 7 player in the world rankings, is the top-ranked player in the Nelson field.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Teen phenom Spieth on Champions' Choice ballot, could be voted into Colonial field

Dallas teen phenom Jordan Spieth, a finalist for the 2012 Ben Hogan Award and one of the hottest rookies on the PGA Tour, will be on the ballot that determines Champions’ Choice exemptions to compete at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Michael Tothe, Colonial tournament director, said today that Spieth is included among the candidates eligible to be voted into this year’s field in Fort Worth, May 20-26. Spieth, 19, has earned $662,398 in seven events, including a season-best tie for second at the Puerto Rico Open, while competing under a special temporary membership granted by tour officials.

Colonial officials reserve two of their sponsor’s exemptions each year for promising newcomers who are voted into the field by past Colonial champions, with this year’s voting deadline set for May 1. Tothe said this year’s list of candidates includes Spieth, Luke List and Franklin Corpening, a former TCU and Fort Worth Paschal High School golfer who competes on the Web.com Tour. Tothe said votes will be tallied and Champions’ Choice exemptions extended as soon as possible after the voting window ends.

Tothe said the Champions' Choice expemtions are Colonial's only remaining sponsor's exemptions for 2013, at this juncture.

If voted into the Colonial field, Spieth would be making his Fort Worth debut under the same exemption granted to notable tour competitors Jason Day (2008), Bill Haas (2006), Davis Love III (1986), Paul Azinger (1985) and Curtis Strange (1978). He also would have an opportunity to become the first Champions’ Choice entry to win a Colonial title since Dave Stockton in 1967.  

Spieth, who helped lead Texas to the 2012 national championship in his lone college season, tied for ninth in Sunday’s final round at the RBC Heritage, his third top-10 finish in a PGA Tour event since March 10. Spieth already has committed to play in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 13-19 in Irving, the week before the Colonial tournament.

_ Jimmy Burch