(Singapore)
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rnA superb final round 6-under par 66 propelled Korea&aposs Ji-Yai Shin to victory at the HSBC Women&aposs Champions on the weekend. She started the final day six shots adrift of Australia&aposs Katherine Hull, who fired a disappointing 2-over par 74 to fall to second place, two shots behind Shin. There was a three-way tie for third place between Brazil&aposs Angela Park and American&aposs Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford.
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rnHull, who recently won the ANZ Ladies Masters, started the final round with a two-shot cushion over good friend Stanford and after nine holes looked set to capture her second LPGA victory. She had played the front nine in 2-under par to reach 13-under par and held a 4-shot buffer over her nearest rivals. However, things started to unravel on the 10th hole where she took bogey, while up ahead on the 11th, Shin converted her fifth birdie of the day to bring the deficit back to two shots.
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rnThere was further dramas for Hull who “made the wrong choice” and chose to hit driver instead of her planned 3-wood off the par-5 13th. A wayward drive saw her need to take an unplayable lie, before having to chip out sideways off a flower bed. She wound up with a double bogey 7 seeing saw her slip back into a tie for the lead with Shin, who was playing bogey-free two holes ahead.
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rnShin took the lead with a birdie on the 15th while Hull suffered another bogey on the par-3 14th, leaving her two shots behind Shin with four holes to play. Shin parred in to set the mark at 11-under par total 277, meaning Hull needed two birdies to force a playoff. She found one on the 17th to show her fighting spirit but pushed her second into the 18th to make bogey, falling two shots short of Shin. During her press conference, Australia’s newest golfing star said, “I decided at the start of the week to hit 3-wood off that tee, but I was too greedy and over confident and that’s unfortunately golf. I got what I deserved I guess and learnt the hard way. It will make me stronger I think.”
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rnShin, who won three times on the LPGA last year as a non-member, including the Ricoh Women’s British Open, commented about her first official LPGA Tour victory, “I make it to the 15 hole, make a birdie. And Katherine, she at number 13 makes double bogey. So, I know the score, so I’m more set on my game. So, yeah, I feel very happy now.”
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rnOf the other Australians, Karrie Webb used a final round 6-under par 66 to shoot up up the leaderboard into a tie for 9th to collect US$42,572.00. Lindsey Wright finished at an even par total for the second week in a row to finish in a tie for 24th while Rachel Hetherington had a disappointing week by her standards, finishing tied for 65th at 10-over par 298.
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rnThe LPGA takes a week’s break before recommencing on the 20th of March at the US$1.3million Mastercard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta Presented by Nextel in Mexico.
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