The 20-year-old Hawaiian, who first qualified for an LPGA event when she was 12, closed with a three-under par 69 for a 13-under 275 total to collect a $220,000 cheque.

“It feels, it sounds cliche, but it feels awesome,” Wie told the LPGA website (www.lpga.com) after her round.

“For sure, it’s definitely (a monkey) off my back. I think that hopefully life will be a lot better, but I still have a lot of work to do. I still have a lot to improve.”

Starting the day joint leader with Cristie Kerr, Wie notched birdies on the first, third and 11th before stumbling at the 12th with a bogey.

She held firm with five straight pars, however, before sealing the victory in style on the last, a 30-yard bunker shot landing a foot from the hole for a tap-in birdie.

“I was just focusing on just not hitting anyone in the crowd,” said Wie when asked about the winning shot.
source: http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/

Chasing a maiden Australian title in his first trip Down Under for 11 years, Woods was caught in one of the long traffic jams surrounding Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club before his 7:30 a.m. tee-off.

Once on the course, the American world number one brushed off the pressure of galleries packed six-deep on every hole and delivered a master class for local fans during his seven-birdie, one-bogey round.

“I think they did great today,” Woods told reporters, referring to the legions of spectators that greeted his birdies with raucous cheers but proved otherwise hushed and reverential.

“I think the people were extremely respectful. They were actually trying to police themselves which is great, because you don’t find that very often.”

Woods, whose appearance is expected to attract a sell-out crowd of 100,000, professed his love for Melbourne’s sandbelt courses before the tournament and renewed his vows with some splendid shot-making at Kingston Heath.