(Danville, California)
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Korea&aposs In-Kyung Kim has earned her first title on the LPGA with a three-shot victory at the Longs Drugs Challenge in Danville, California. With testing conditions over the last three days, Kim fired rounds of 67, 69, 69 and 73 to finish at 10-under par total 278; America&aposs Angela Stanford in outright second at 7-under. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng finished a stroke further back in third, two ahead of World No.1 Lorena Ochoa, alone in 4th place.
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Kim went into the final round at 11-under par with a one-shot lead over Stanford who enjoyed a four-shot gap back to Tseng and American rookie Mollie Fankhauser who were tied for 3rd. It appeared it was a race in two and that’s the way it transpired with Tseng falling out of contention with three consecutive bogeys on the back nine and Fankhauser struggling in the difficult conditions to post a final round 5-over 77, eventually finishing in 11th place.
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On a day where Stanford said she “almost fell over on the driving range” due to the strong winds, pars were at a premium and Kim built a good lead heading into the back nine with a string of pars from the 3rd to 13th holes, giving her a two-shot lead. Both players bogeyed the 14th and 16th holes before matching each other’s birdies on the par-4 17th hole, which is where Kim really won the tournament. While Stanford found the fairway, Kim found the fairway bunker. Stanford applied the pressure as she knocked her sand wedge to 10-feet, before Kim hit the flagstick from 70 yards to leave herself 6-feet for a brilliant birdie of her own.
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She went to the 18th tee with a 2-shot buffer and rolled in another birdie putt, this time from 25-feet to seal her first victory in her second year on tour and the US$180,000.00 winner’s cheque. During her press conference she talked about the excitement of leading going into the final round, saying, “I just couldn’t go to bed. I went through the course about 10 times at least. I think I slept like one or two hours last night.” The win moved her up to 19th on the Official Money List with US$680,103.00 in season earnings. It also saw her move up 16 places on the Rolex Rankings to No.22 in the world.
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Sarah Kemp was the best of the four Australians in the field, finishing in a tie for 13th at 1-over par 289. Sitting at 130th on the money list before this week, Kemp needed a good finish to give her a chance to keep her card for 2009 without having to go back to Q-School. After a promising opening three rounds, she went into the final day in a tie for 6th place and playing in the penultimate three-ball. Unfortunately the tough conditions saw her post a final round 5-over 77 to slip down the leaderboard. Her prizemoney of US$17,398.00 saw her move up to 121st on the money list and with only one full-field event remaining; a return trip to Q-School looks likely. However, she did move up 26 places to No.180 on the latest Rolex Rankings. Wendy Doolan was the next best of the Aussies, finishing three shots behind Kemp in a tie for 23rd. Rachel Hetherington made the cut but struggled on the last day to finish in a tie for 63rd.
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This week the LPGA again goes off the mainland with the inaugural Kapalua LPGA Classic in Hawaii. This new event will be played at the Bay Course, Kapalua Resort in Maui and carries a prize purse of US1.5million which has attracted 17 of the world’s Top-25 players, making for a strong field in one of the few full-field events remaining this year. The field will include eight ALPG Members attempting to take home the US$225,000.00 first place cheque. They are Wendy Doolan, Michelle Ellis, Rachel Hetherington, Katherine Hull, Sarah Kemp, Sarah-Jane Kenyon, Karrie Webb and Lindsey Wright. Of those players, Doolan (79 on the money list), Ellis (104) and Kemp (121) all need good performances to secure their cards for 2009 with the Top-80 fully exempt for next year. The other players are assured of competing on the most lucrative women’s tour in 2009.
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