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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Defending champ Pettersen finds form

By: Tim Campbell

Posted: 08/27/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Defending champion Suzann Pettersen carded a three-under 69 on Thursday.

LAST week at the Safeway Classic, Suzann Pettersen relegated herself to catch-up mode for the entire 54-hole tournament when she started off poorly, three-over for the first 11 holes.

As defending champion of this week's CN Canadian Open at St. Charles Country Club, Pettersen made no such mistake, firing an opening three-under 69 to get straight into the mix at the US$2.25-million LPGA Tour event.

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It's four back of opening-round leader Michelle Wie and was the day's third-best score.

"I mean, you're always trying to play your heart out, it doesn't matter what tournament, where you are," Pettersen said, steering away from any excuses about last week.

"But today, I mean, the conditions are tough. The fairways are running, and they're very firm, so I mean, you have to be cautious of run-outs and certain carries.

"The rough is penalizing. I hit my driver really good today, and like I said, you prepare every round to play your best. Sometimes it works, sometimes the mojo isn't on your side."

Besides mojo, Pettersen has battled one other factor this season -- tendonitis in her hips.

"It has been (there) all year, but it's getting better," she said. "I've made some adjustments and they've been helping."

One thing that helped her most on Thursday was controlling her golf ball.

She hit 15 greens, barely missed two others, and simply stayed out of trouble.

"It seems like you've got to take whatever the course gives you because now we've played this course in three different conditions really, with the wind coming from the south, the first couple days from the northwest, I think, and yesterday it was fairly quiet," she said. "I think you just prepare your game and you play the course for what it gives you. It's in great shape. The greens are really fast."

That wind probably kept the group of par-breakers to just 24.

"I'm just feeling good with my game," Pettersen said. "I mean, it was a good little session I had on the range yesterday afternoon, and kind of found a little trigger and off we went this morning."

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 27, 2010 C1

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