(2 November 2009 – Suzhou, China)
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South Korean Bo-Mi Suh, a fifth year professional on the Korean LPGA
, completed a one-shot victory at the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China. This event is a tri-sanctioned event between the LET, the Korean LPGA and the Ladies Asian Golf Tour. Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera finished one shot behind Suh in outright second with Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum rounding out a truly international Top-3 in third place; three shots behind the winner.
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rnHeading into the final round, Suh at 6-under par, held a two-shot lead over Spaniard Carmen Alonso and Australia’s Frances Bondad with Nocera a further shot back in 4th. Nocera had received a two-shot retrospective penalty on Saturday morning after her playing partner reported that she had turned up to the tee 2 minutes late on the first day.
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rnOn a cool and blustery final day, Suh and Bondad played solidly around the front nine to make the turn in even par, while the big-hitting Alonso had dropped three shots and would eventually post a round of 8-over par 80 to drop to a tie for 19th. Nocera had also dropped shot to be four shots adrift with nine holes to play. This was soon to be reduced to one shot with Suh making bogey at both 10 and 11 while Nocera picked up a birdie at the 10th. Unfortunately for Bondad, she jumped aboard the ‘bogey-train’ with four bogies in five holes from the 10th to fall out of contention.
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rnIn what turned out to be a two-way battle, Suh extended her lead to two shots with a birdie at the 12th, a lead she would never relinquish the lead down the stretch but she was certainly pushed all the way by Nocera. The Frenchwoman is a proven wind player as she demonstrated in winning the inaugural New Zealand Women’s Open on a windswept final day in Christchurch earlier this year. She pulled within a shot of Suh when she made birdie at the par-4 16th and it looked for all money like a playoff when she drew level with a birdie at the par-5 18th.
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rnSuh had other ideas however when she found the 18th in two with a superb approach shot that finished just 20-feet from the hole. The drama wasn’t over however as she drilled her eagle attempt 4-feet past the hole, but subsequently holed the return putt for her first professional victory. Afterwards she said, “I’m very happy. It’s a dream come true. Today was very windy so it was difficult to concentrate.” The 28-year-old only startyed playing the game at the age of 17 and now has a fully-exempt Category 3 Winner’s Exemption through until the end of 2012.
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rnFrances Bondad bounced back from her disappointing start to the back nine to birdie the 17th and eventually finished in a tie for 5th at 1-under par total 215. Joining her as the leading ALPG Member was Rebecca Coakley who posted a final round of 1-over par 73. Bronwyn Mullins-Lane continued her recent run of good form with a final round even par 72 seeing her jump from 44th into a tie for 19th. Karen Lunn (T33), Nicole Montgomery (T41) and Bing Lim (T66) also made the cut but finished out of contention.
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rnThe LET continues its Asian swing this week with the €205,000 Daishin Securities Tomato Tour Korean Ladies Masters.
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Photo by Anthony Powter – Frances Bondad