Pettersen ousted, Tseng fights on at LPGA Match Play

GLADSTONE, New Jersey: Defending champion Suzann Pettersen was ousted by England's Jodi Ewart in the first round of the LPGA Match Play Championship Thursday, while World No. 1 Yani Tseng barely advanced.
Ewart, ranked 62nd, upset the third-ranked Norwegian 3 and 1. Fourth-ranked Ai Miyazato of Japan, another top seed in her quarter of the 64-woman field, also made a first-match exit, losing 2 up to Colombian Mariajo Uribe.
And Taiwan's Tseng, who has already won three times this year, struggled to defeat South Korean Jeong Jang 1 up while world No. 2 Na Yeon Choi of South Korea outlasted compatriot Grace Park 2 up.
Pettersen won the first two holes with a par followed by a birdie and even after Ewart answered with birdies to win the fourth and fifth holes, she birdied the sixth to reclaim a 1-up lead.
But Ewart took command on the back nine, winning the 11th when Pettersen bogeyed the hole and taking the par-3 12th and par-4 13th with birdies.
Pettersen answered with a par to take the par-4 14th but Ewart birdied the par-3 16th and closed out the match with a birdie at the par-4 17th.
Tseng won four of the first six holes, three of them with pars, to leap into the early lead over 64th-ranked Jang, but the last qualifier in the field began the back nine with a par and birdie to halve her deficit to 2-down.
Tseng won the par-3 12th with a par, but Jang birdied the next three holes to square the match on the 16th tee. Tseng won the 16th with a par then matched Jang's pars on the final two holes to secure the victory.
Uribe birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th holes to take a 1-up edge on Miyazato and won the par-5 18th with a birdie to eliminate the Asian star.
Friday's second round will see Tseng face 33rd-ranked American Katie Futcher, who ousted South Korean Chella Choi 4 and 3, while Choi will next face World No. 31 South Korean Jenny Shin, who downed compatriot Jimin Kang 4 and 2.
Ewart will try to follow up on her upset of Pettersen by eliminating 30th-ranked Sophie Gustafson of Sweden, who beat England's Karen Stupples 4 and 3, while Uribe, ranked 61st, faces a second-round match with 36th-ranked Australian Katherine Hull, a 3-and-2 winner over South Korean Song-Hee Kim.
Also among those losing in the first round was Michelle Wie, who fell 3 and 2 to fellow American Mina Harigae.
FROM: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE