British jinx ended

Laura Davies and Catriona Matthew ended a British jinx in the HSBC Women’s World Matchplay Championship with first round victories today at Hamilton Golf Club in Gladstone, New Jersey.

Favourite Annika Sorenstam and 16-year-old Michelle Wie, the number two seed, also eased through to the last 32, but Kent’s Karen Stupples went out at the first hurdle by 3 and 1 to Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann.