(23 March, 2009 – Mexico City, Mexico)
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American Pat Hurst, a 15-year veteran of the LPGA Tour wound back the clock to record her first victory in three years at the Mastercard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta Presented by Nextel. Hurst posted a final round 4-under par 68 to secure the victory by 1-shot from World No.1 Lorena Ochoa and World No.2 Yani Tseng.
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rnThe final round began with Tseng and Korea&aposs Na Yeon Choi sitting atop the leaderboard on 7-under par with Ochoa and Hurst just a shot behind. Choi faltered early with an outward half of 4-over par and eventually finished in a tie for 6th. It was Tseng and Hurst however who got off to the best starts, both posting 3 birdies in their first 6 holes. Tseng eventually made back-to-back bogeys on the 8th and 9th holes to give Hurst a one-shot lead heading to the back nine.
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rnHurst quickly gave her advantage after driving out of bounds on the 10th hole and ended up with a double bogey to fall back to 7-under par. Both players bounced back with Tseng notching birdies at the 10th and 11th while Hurst made a brace of birdies following her double, leaving Tseng ahead by one shot on 10-under after 12 holes. Not to be outdone, Ochoa chimed in with two birdies of her own on the 12th and 13th holes to reach 7-under par. She would manage two birdies on the last two holes but could only get to 9-under par, one shot shy of Hurst’s eventual winning score.
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rnHurst made another bogey on 14 and it seemed the tournament was there for the taking by Tseng, who finished second here last year. The real drama was yet to unfold. With Tseng playing solid par golf, they reached the 17th tee with Hurst two behind. Here she hit her approach shot to 10 feet and drained the putt to go to the last hole, a par-5, only one behind.
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rnAt the last, both players left themselves with short third shots, which Hurst knocked to 10-feet but above the hole, while Tseng left herself with 30-feet. In the end, Tseng three-putted while Hurst knocked hers in centre cup for an unlikely victory. Afterwards she said, “You know, basically when I was reading the putt, I was not thinking about playoff or anything, just about making the putt. And I tried to put a good stroke on it and give it a chance. I knew the putt was downhill, so I knew I could get it there. It was just a matter of getting the line, and it was on the right line”.
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rnLindsey Wright was the best of the Australian’s finishing in a tie for 16th after rounds 70,73,73. Sarah-Jane Smith and Sarah Kemp also made the cut but finished well back in ties for 50th and 57th respectively. Wendy Doolan, Katherine Hull and Michelle Ellis all missed the cut.
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rnThis week sees the final warm-up before the year’s first major with the US$1.5million J Golf Phoenix LPGA International Presented by Mirassou Winery. ALPG will be represented by Wendy Doolan, Michelle Ellis, Rachel Hetherington, Katherine Hull, Sarah-Jane Smith, Karrie Webb and Lindsey Wright.
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