HSBC Women's Champions: Top Five

Eugene YS Han picks out five golfers to look out for among the star-studded line-up at this year's HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore.

With the competition set to heat up at the Tanah Merah Country Club, expect world-class golf on display with world number one Lorena Ochoa leading the way. She will have much to fend off this current crop of young LPGA stars aiming to dethrone the Mexican. Here's a look at the best five.

Ai Miyazato

Ai Miyazato is going into the HSBC Women's Champions in great form after she came from behind to win LPGA's season-opening Honda PTT LPGA Thailand on Sunday. Miyazato, who is sometimes regarded as the real darling of the Japanese media, is looking to make a huge splash in 2010 after closing the previous year on a high. After securing her LPGA card in 2006, the 24-year-old finally got her first LPGA Tour win at the 2009 Evian Masters in July after defeating Sophie Gustafson in a playoff. A winner of 17 Japanese LPGA titles, Miyazato had long been earmarked as a potential major winner. Perhaps 2010 could bring her some major cheer.

Amanda Blumenherst

Heralded as the next American golfing superstar, 23-year-old Amanda Blumenherst earned the chance to play at the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore after receiving one of the sponsor's invites. Blumenherst is a multi-award winning golfer during her amateur days. Before turning professional in June 2009, the Arizona native won the 2008 US Women's Amateur Championship and was also awarded National Player of the Year at Duke University three times. Blumenherst also took part in professional tournaments as an amateur in five LPGA events, including the US Women's Open in 2006 and 2007 where she finished tied for 10th and 50th, respectively.

M.J. Hur

Another prodigious young talent from South Korea, M.J. Hur has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of Park Se Ri and Jiyai Shin for golf superstardom. The 20-year-old notched her first LPGA Tour title when she saw off Suzann Pettersen and Michele Redman to win the 2009 Safeway Classic. Hur seems to be ready to start 2010 with a bang. She hit six-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead with former champion Suzann Pettersen at the Honda-PTT LPGA Thailand last week. She eventually faded and ended up tied for 13th place on the final day. Nevertheless, Hur is still another exciting talent to watch out for at the HSBC Women's Champions.

Jiyai Shin

Shin is often talked about as the best of the current crop of talented South Korean golfers taking part in the LPGA. She has been widely tipped to be the most likely golfer to usurp the world number one title from Lorena Ochoa. The 21-year-old burst into the LPGA stratosphere in 2007 by playing in three of the four majors and making a name of herself in those tournaments. It took just one year for Shin to win her first major when she clinched the 2008 Women's British Open by three strokes. In 2009, she went on to win the LPGA Rookie of the Year as well topping the LPGA Money list. And did we mention, she is the reigning Queen of the HSBC Women's Champion this year?

And Michelle Wie

Making her first appearance in the city state of Singapore, Michelle Wie is perhaps the closest this island gets to a Tiger Woods-que golfing figure on her shores. No disrespect to the other golfers, the terraces will be and is expected to be filled with golfers and non-golfers alike - all hoping to get a glimpse of the super-star that nearly fizzled out early in the career. Outrageously talented at a young age of 14, Wie was tipped to be take the golfing world by storm, and so far that post-Tiger Woods world is still waiting with bated breath. 2009 has given us some glimpse of the vast potential that Wie has. Could 2010, the year of the Tiger, be the year Wie finally finds her range and appetite for victories on the fairways around the world?

Casey gives back to the community

Paul Casey announced that he is donating US100,000 to a charity in Houston, the city which holds found memories for him.

Casey won his first title on American soil in Houston last April.

England's world number six earned over £540,000 for finishing runner-up to compatriot Ian Poulter at the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Tucson yesterday.

Casey promised to do something for the local community following his victory 10 months ago and returned to Houston today to make the announcement.

Federer backing for repentant Woods

Roger Federer has pledged unflinching support to embattled fellow world number one Tiger Woods and believes "the worst has passed".

Woods last week fought back tears as he issued a full and frank apology for cheating on his wife but stopped short of announcing when he will return to golf.

"Tiger is a good friend of mine," tennis number one Federer said in The Gulf News.

"What's happened to him has been hard to watch over the last three months right down to when he made his apology. I am sure he's headed in a better direction now. The worst has passed.

"I hope that he can also work things out with his wife Elin because they are very nice people - obviously for the sake of their kids as well."

Federer has not spoken to Woods since the November car crash which preceded the revelations about his private life, but insists they remain friends.

"I have supported him, but I haven't had any contact with him," added the Swiss star, who was forced to withdraw from this week's Dubai Tennis Championship due to a lung infection.

"He has been where he knows he has been (in therapy) but my support does not change. I wish him the best.

"It's been hard to watch from far away but I would love to see him back on the golf course. It is what he does best."

Poulter wins World Match Play

Ian Poulter is a world champion, Paul Casey is a runner-up again - and England now have three players in the world's top six.

An extraordinary week for a country which a decade ago had only Lee Westwood in the top 100 ended with Poulter, dressed all in pink, achieving a brilliant maiden US Tour victory at the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona today.

Casey, who broke his duck on the circuit at last season's Houston Open, was beaten 4&2 in the 36-hole final a year after going down 4&3 to Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

The pair were competing not just for the title and a difference in prize money of almost £350,000 - the winner's cheque was £890,607 and the runner-up received £540,726 - but also the world number five spot.

Despite his first round exit on Wednesday, Westwood remains the highest-placed European at fourth, but Poulter and Casey are now immediately behind him - and Poulter is the first Englishman to win any of the four World Golf Championship individual titles since they began in 1999.

"It feels really, really nice," he said. "It's been a long time coming and I am very happy.

"It was a good day's golf. I knew I was in great form and I felt calm all day - nerves didn't play any factor at all.

"I know Paul's disappointed being runner-up two years in a row."

Casey first had to get past Colombian Camilo Villegas at the start of the day.

Their semi-final was halted after 23 holes on Saturday because of fading light, but on the resumption Villegas snap-hooked his opening drive into the desert scrub and Casey, lucky to escape when his opponent missed from under three feet on the green before, won with a par four.

Minutes later he was teeing off again, but the only time he led was when he was conceded an eagle on the long second after a glorious 216-yard approach to eight feet.

Poulter birdied the next from seven feet, went ahead on the seventh and by the 14th was four clear.

Losing another hole at that point would have turned a drama into a crisis for Casey, but he got back into the match over the closing stretch of the morning round.

Lunching two down meant it was still all to play for, but Poulter birdied the next two holes from 15 and six feet and despite twos from Casey at the 21st and 24th - he almost aced the second of those - the gap was three at the turn.

When Casey made a 14-footer on the next it was game on again, but Poulter got up and down at the following two and almost chipped in for eagle at the 33rd.

Casey lipped out from 13 feet to fall three down with three to play and when he failed to get up and down from a bunker on the short next Poulter, with two for it, made a 10-footer to put the icing on the cake.

While Casey was an amateur star - English champion two years running, Walker Cup partner of Luke Donald, world team championship runner-up and American college winner - Poulter's story is very, very different.

Two years older at 34, he turned professional in 1994 with a four-handicap and with no national honours.

He wanted to play on tour, but did not make it through the qualifying school until the fourth attempt.

Poulter worked in the pro shop at the Hitchin club Jack o'Legs, named after a 14th-century character from folk legend who lived in a cave and was famed for robbing the rich to give to the poor.

Yet once he finally got his card Poulter - now worth millions himself and with a collection of cars to which he recently added a Ferrari California and Mercedes s-63 - was a winner in his first season as well.

The Italian Open helped him become Rookie of the Year for 2000 and his name is on that trophy just above Casey's.

Off and running, he had five more wins in the next four years and made his Ryder Cup debut along with Casey in the 2004 victory in Detroit.

Casey did not have to go beyond the 14th hole in his first four games this week, but then had his incredible tussle with Villegas and came through only after the Colombian had missed from under three feet on Saturday evening.

Poulter, top scorer with four points out of five at Valhalla two years ago, went to an extra hole in his first match with American Justin Leonard, but after that gained in such confidence that come the semi-finals he thrashed Sergio Garcia 7&6.

That virtually guarantees him a third Ryder Cup cap in October and neither he nor Casey should need a wild card this time.

Casey said: "Ian played excellent golf. There were a lot of shots I wanted to pull off and didn't, but he did a fantastic job.

"I don't feel physically tired, I feel mentally tired, but I am not making excuses.

"There are a lot of positives to come out of this week for me."

Begay 'choked up' by Woods statement

One of the people Tiger Woods hugged after giving the most difficult speech of his life yesterday said he had never seen the world number one so emotional.

"It's a little bit harder than making a swing change," said fellow player Notah Begay, a close friend of Woods since his college days in California.

Begay pulled out of the US Tour event in Mexico to be present and admitted he got "choked up" listening.

The 37-year-old - three years older than Woods - has had his own issues to deal with. A decade ago he was sent to jail for a second drunk-driving offence and sought professional help.

Woods was there for him then and Begay has been there for the troubled superstar the last few months.

The longest embrace was with his Thai mother Kultida and she agreed to speak afterwards as well, saying her son had a "good heart and good soul", but had made a mistake.

She said: "Some of media, especially tabloid, hurt my son bad. He didn't do anything illegal. He didn't kill anybody.

"But he try to improve himself. He will come out stronger and a better person."

Some sponsors have already dropped or distanced themselves from Woods, but club and clothing manufacturer Nike said in a statement: "Tiger has apologised and made his position clear.

"Nike fully supports him and his family. We look forward to him returning to golf."

Video company EA Sports president Peter Moore commented: "It was good to see Tiger address the public and we're supportive of his focus toward family and rebuilding his life."

After initial critical comments from players, most notably Ernie Els, about the timing of the statement in the middle of a big event in Arizona, there was a more supportive reaction there yesterday.

"Hopefully he will get everything sorted and I'll welcome him back with open arms," said Sergio Garcia.

"I don't think the tournament's been overshadowed. I think Tiger did what he needed to do and said what he needed to say. I think he did well.

"For me it's water under the bridge. I'm actually excited to see him back. It's good to see he's doing well."

Open champion Stewart Cink added: "I was moved by how difficult it seemed to be for him.

"It sounds like it's part of the recovery or the healing process that he has to go through.

"I've got a couple of good friends that have gone through the alcohol abuse programme and similar steps are taken in the healing process where you have to make amends to the people you've hurt.

"You have to start the bridge to the other side and I think that's where Tiger is.

"It sounded heartfelt to me. It sounds like it was a really difficult thing for him to do - probably one of the most difficult things he's ever had to do.

"Tiger's a tough guy that is going to, like he said, overcome this.

"I have no idea (when Woods will return), but he'll do it when it's his time.

"I think he'll be received well (by fellow players). One thing we have to remember - we've all made mistakes and all sinned. And forgiveness is a huge part of the process."

Sir Nick Faldo believes it will be good for Woods to be back playing sooner rather than later.

"His whole world has been golf and if he does not get back to it you assume he does not have a world," he said.

McGowan stuns Stricker in Tuscon

McGowan stuns Stricker in Tuscon

England's Ross McGowanknocked top seed Steve Stricker out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.

England's Ross McGowan, only playing because Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson chose not to, knocked top seed Steve Stricker out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson on Wednesday night.

With a 25-foot par putt on the first extra hole, McGowan grabbed the biggest possible scalp on a day which also saw Rory McIlroy come from four down to win, but Padraig Harrington and Ross Fisher were among those beaten.

Stricker went to world number two when he won the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles two weeks ago, but his defeat opens the door for Lee Westwood to move into that spot this weekend.

Westwood would have to win the title for that, but he made a good start by overcoming fellow Englishman Chris Wood 3&1.

McGowan was little known until he finished runner-up to Westwood at the Dubai World Championship in November, and was a massive underdog against Stricker.

He becomes only the second 64th seed to beat the top seed in the history of the event. Australian Peter O'Malley eliminated Tiger Woods in 2002.

McIlroy, meanwhile, pulled off a brilliant victory from the jaws of defeat.

He lost four of the first six holes to American Kevin Na early on and was still two behind with only four left.

But the 20-year-old fourth seed eagled the next and won on the final green as Na, ranked 61st in the world, crumbled.

It was just the sort of thing that would have hugely impressed Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, who earlier this week said: "I want to see guys who show guts and determination, guys who are maybe two or three down with four or five holes to play but who battle back to win."

The young Northern Irishman, already a near-certainty for a debut against the Americans in October, reached the quarter-finals last year and is this week playing his first event as a member of the US Tour.

There was a superb fightback from Ian Poulter as well. He went from two up to two down against former Open champion Justin Leonard, but won on the 19th.

Out, though, went three-time major winner Harrington to Indian Jeev Milkha Singh by a 3&1 margin and Fisher, winner of golf's other Match Play tournament in Spain last October, by 5&4 to Thai Thongchai Jaidee.

McIlroy is already the only Irishman left in the event as it moves down to the last 32, Graeme McDowell having gone down 2&1 to in-form Luke Donald.

McIlroy said: "I definitely didn't make it easy for myself. I got off to a very slow start.

"I think I hung in well, but was pretty fortunate to get through and I'll need to play better if I want to progress into the latter stages."

He next faces Oliver Wilson, who had a fine win over Dubai Desert Classic winner Miguel Angel Jimenez, and added: "Ollie's a great competitor, a Ryder Cup player and he's going to be very tough."

McDowell commented: "The last two years I've run into a buzz-saw.

"Last year Zach Johnson made eight or nine birdies and Luke just putted the eyes out of it. Every time I smelt a chance he made a putt.

"It does not matter how well you play in this. If someone plays better you go home."

Paul Casey, last year's runner-up to Australian Geoff Ogilvy, had a thumping 5&4 success over Canadian Stephen Ames, but that was far from the biggest victory of the day.

Ames' countryman Mike Weir thrashed big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros 8&6 - he birdied nine of the first 10 holes - and will now take on Casey, while Ogilvy began his defence with a 7&5 trouncing of Alex Noren.

It was not a good day for the Swedes. As well as Noren, Peter Hanson lost to Australian Robert Allenby and former winner Henrik Stenson withdrew after one hole against American Ben Crane because of flu-like symptoms.

England's Simon Dyson also made an early exit, going down to American Sean O'Hair, but Europe have Swede Robert Karlsson, Dane Anders Hansen, German Martin Kaymer and Spain's Sergio Garcia in the last 32 as well as McGowan, McIlroy, Westwood, Poulter, Casey and Wilson.

Kaymer birdied the last four holes to beat Chad Campbell, while Hansen beat US Open champion Lucas Glover, but Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari both lost - Edoardo from four up with nine to play against Open champion Stewart Cink.

McGowan said: "I would say I fancied my chances and I could go all the way.

"I had a shaky start, but I played really nicely from about the fifth and it was quite exciting when that one dropped on 19."

He next plays Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa and added: "I don't know much about him and it's going to be interesting."

How Tiger's world went into meltdown

Tiger Woods is set to break his silence on Friday. Here is how the drama in his life has unfolded.

2009:

November 27

- Reports emerge that Woods has been injured in a car accident near his Florida home after colliding with a fire hydrant and a tree. He was not seriously hurt. US gossip websites begin speculating that the incident may be connected to reports earlier that week in the National Enquirer alleging an affair with New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel.

November 28

- Florida Highway Patrol say they have been unable to speak to Woods and his wife, Elin, about the incident.

November 29

- Woods enlists lawyer Mark Nejame to represent him.

- Woods releases a statement on his website admitting full blame for the incident. The release continued: "I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again. This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way."

November 30

- Woods announces he will miss his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge.

December 1

- Woods issued with a traffic citation for careless driving and a 164 dollar fine. Officials declare the investigation over.

December 2

- US Weekly runs an interview with waitress Jaimee Grubbs, who claims she had a two-and-a-half-year affair with the golfer.

- Woods pens a new, emotional statement on his website. Comments include: "I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart."

December 3

- Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik says he owes Elin Nordegren an apology for introducing her to Woods in 2001. "We probably thought he was a better guy than he is," Parnevik says.

- Uchitel, who previously denied reports she had an affair with Woods, cancels a planned press conference.

December 4 - 11

- A flurry of claims are made by other women alleging to have had a fling with Woods. Among those alleged to have bedded the golfer are a porn star and a pancake house waitress. At least 10 women have been linked to Woods in tabloids and US showbiz websites.

December 8

- Sports drink firm Gatorade becomes the first company to drop its endorsement of Woods.

December 9

- Adverts featuring Woods are found to have disappeared from prime-time US television broadcasts.

December 10

Uchitel uses a magazine interview to deny she is a "home-wrecker" or "tramp". The 34-year-old nightclub hostess told OK! magazine: "In every story you need a villain and a hero. I've been characterised as a villain."

December 11

Woods releases most personal statement yet, saying he is taking an "indefinite break" from golf and apologising for his "infidelity".

December 13

Gillette announce they are scaling back their use of Woods in their advertising campaigns while Accenture drop the golfer altogether.

December 18

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer announce they will "downscale the use" of Woods' image in their campaigns during his absence from golf.

December 31

American telecommunications giant At&T end their sponsorship deal with Woods.

2010

February 3: Eight-time major winner Tom Watson calls on Woods to "show some humility" as a player and apologise for his off-course behaviour before returning to golf.

February 12: Speculation mounts that Woods will enter the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, but he does not.

February 17: PGA Tour announce Woods will make a statement on Friday. Woods' manager Mark Steinberg said: "Tiger plans to discuss his past and his future and he intends to apologise for his behaviour."