February 15, 2009

With three wins in her last seven starts, PING pro Angela Stanford is climbing up the world rankings and is all but assured of making her third Solheim Cup appearance in August. Naturally, the eight-year LPGA veteran, who’s now ranked 8th in the world and hasn’t finished outside the top six in those seven starts, couldn’t be happier.

"I know I say this over and over, but I’m just having so much fun,” she said following her three-shot win at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay in Hawaii.

Along with the enjoyment (and $180,000 winner’s check) that came with her fourth career victory, Stanford expressed surprise at her success so early in the season. A slow starter by her own admission, she arrived at the Turtle Bay Resort Golf Club believing her game needed work. “I didn’t have high expectations and I knew there were things I need to keep working on,” said Stanford, who carded a first round 65 to put herself atop the leaderboard.

After a 71 in the second round, she entered the final 18 holes tied for the lead. As she turned for the final nine holes, she found herself two shots behind and bogeyed the 10th to fall three back. But a double bogey by her nearest competitor and a string of three straight (13-15) birdies of her own staked her to her eventual margin of victory.

Her three-day total of 10-under-par tied the tournament record. The 31-year-old Texas native played a G10 driver, Rapture V2 3 and 7-woods, a combination of i5, G10 and G2 HL irons, four Tour wedges and a Karsten Series B60 putter.