On Singapore Island, there are as many as 375 different species including long-tailed parakeets, pelicans and a host of song birds. There is even a national competition for the Singaporeans' pet song birds carrying a prize of $10,000 dollars for the one which can outdo its rivals in the matter of volume and clarity and the ability to sing continuously.
Karrie would be happy if the champion were to be let loose on Tanah Merah. "Experienced as I am," she has explained, "I still struggle with controlling my emotions, on not getting down on myself and beating myself up to the point where I can't get myself out of a hole. I find that when I'm concentrating on listening to the birds, I can't be thinking of anything else. It's my way of getting out of the past and into the moment."
The now 37-year-old Webb did not dig any holes for herself in last year's HSBC Women's Champions.
The promising Chie Arimura of Japan had held the Saturday night lead and Webb was behind both her and Yani Tseng at the turn. Then, though, she hit what she deemed her shot of the week - a four-iron to 12 feet at the eleventh - and was on her way. That birdie was the first of six over a last eight holes in which she made a succession of six to ten-footers to defeat Arimura by a shot.
"Putts don't get any easier as I get older but I work hard on this part of my game and I've reached the point where I'm confident of putting a good stroke on the ball," she said.
It is not just the birds of the air that deserve a mention in any Karrie Webb report. Webb has often attributed her early-season form to the fish at her sea-side home in Florida and around the coast of her native Queensland.
Like a Jack Nicklaus or a Tiger Woods, this great champion likes to spend her off-season fishing. Six years ago, shortly before she won the Nabisco, the most recent of her seven Majors, she caught an 80-pound white merlin. "Fishing may be different from golf but I'm still competitive," she says. "I hate going out there and putting in the hours and catching nothing."
Apart from fishing, Webb has been working in the off-season on the swing changes given to her by her coach, Ian Trigg. It was Laura Davies who once described the Australian as "a bit like Annika only longer and stronger". Annika was always the more consistent of the two and notched as many as ten majors to Webb's seven before announcing her retirement in 2008.
From the way Webb is currently going about her business - she is planning a full 2012 season on the LPGA Tour - she could well catch up with her old rival.
Not that she will be putting any pressure on herself to do as much.
It was Noel Blundell, her psychologist, who advised that the time had come when she should stop fretting over the fact that her wins - she has as many as 57 from around the world - are not coming as thick and fast as they did a few years ago.
Karrie took note.
Today, she listens to the birds and tells herself, "Anything that happens now is the icing on the cake." |
