Date: March 23, 2009
Author: PA Sport

Hurst wins in Mexico

American Pat Hurst birdied the final hole to card a four-under-par 68 and secure a one-stroke victory at the MasterCard Classic in Mexico. Having started the day a shot off the top of the leaderboard, the 39-year-old made a solid start to the final round by carding three birdies without dropping a shot to reach the turn in 33. A double-bogey on the par-four 10th saw her momentarily drop down the leaderboard before she recovered with two successive birdies from the 11th. A bogey on the short 14th again threatened to deny Hurst the victory but she birdied the 17th before picking up another shot on the last to snatch the win and the US$195, 000 prize money. World No.1 Lorena Ochoa, who had seen her strong start to the tournament undone by a 73 on Saturday, carded six birdies but dropped three shots to finished tied second alongside Chinese Taipei&aposs Yani Tseng (70). Kim Song-hee of South Korea finished fourth after carding a three under 69 while American Cristie Kerr produced her best round of the tournament with a 67 to claim fifth. Australia&aposs best performer was Sarah Jane-Smith at six-over, while Sarah Kemp was a further stroke back. LPGA Tour, Final Round of the MasterCard Classic, Mexico City -10: Pat Hurst 68 70 68 -9: Lorena Ochoa 65 73 69, Yani Tseng 68 69 70 -8: Song Hee Kim 70 69 69 -5: Christie Kerr 72 72 67 -3: Na Yeon Choi 67 70 76, Eun-Hee Ji 74 68 71, Ji Young Oh 69 74 70 -2: Katie Futcher 74 72 68, Jee Young Lee 73 70 71, Suzann Pettersen 69 71 74 -1: Seon Hwa Lee 69 74 72, Grace Park 69 71 75, Sun Young Yoo 70 70 75, Heather Young 74 70 71 E: Il Mi Chng 74 72 70, Meena Lee 73 72 71, Teresa Lu 72 72 72, Kristy McPherson 70 73 73, Se Ri Pak 70 69 77, Lindsey Wright 70 73 73 Also: +6: Sarah Jane-Smith (Australia) 73 76 73 +7: Sarah Kemp (Australia) 75 74 74