Rolex Rankings No. 9 Suzann Pettersen held off a spirited final-round charge by Scotland’s Catriona Matthew to win the 2012 LPGA KEB•HanaBank Championship. Pettersen sank a five-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole on the 18th hole to clinch her ninth-career victory.
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Pettersen shot the worst round of her week by six shots on Sunday but was able to keep her composure to outlast Matthew in 21 holes. She posted three birdies, one bogey and two double bogeys for a 2-over 74, finishing 11-under par. Matthew started the day seven shots off the lead and carded six birdies and one bogey to force the playoff. Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng finished third at 10-under par and recorded her first top-10 finish in 13 starts.
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Pettersen got off to a shaky start on the front nine and double bogeyed the par 3 third. After birdieing No. 4 she would bogey another par 3 on the eighth. It was then that Pettersen found herself diverting from her original game plan.
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"After I bogeyed 8, I looked at my caddie, I said, if I am going to bogey, I might as well just fire right at the pin," said Pettersen.
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"There&aposs no point playing safe. He said, why don&apost you just play as aggressive as you have all week. What are you trying to do? So I might have gone out trying to be a little bit protective, which obviously does not fit my game at all."
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Making the turn at 2-over, she still held a two-shot lead. But another double-bogey at the par 3 12th dropped Pettersen two shots back after Matthew had back-to-back birdies on No. 13 and 14 two groups ahead.
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"So made a few birdies on the back nine, made a little bit of unfortunate lie on 12 on the par 3, but overall I felt like I played pretty good, it was just not a scoring day," said Pettersen.
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"I just really tried to hang in there. I tried not to even look what was going on around me because it would just stress me out. Just really tried to stick to my own game plan, which I had to readjust after like eight holes."
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But Matthew would go on to birdie three on the back nine while Pettersen continued her par 3 struggles and posted another double bogey on No. 12. She would birdie the par 4 14th as Matthew bogeyed No. 16, putting them both at 11-under par where they finished in regulation.
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Although Matthew had the momentum of a hot round on her side, Pettersen did not falter in feeling she had it the whole time.
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"I felt like I had it all in my hand both the first time around, second time around, and the third around," said Pettersen. "It&aposs getting closer. I&aposm getting closer to the hole. But when you have a putt I would say inside eight feet, you feel like you have it in your own hand. You&aposre not going to get too many of those. I mean, you would expect Catriona to hit it closer or kind of have a chance, as well.
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"I was fortunate enough, but I put enough pressure on her to kind of give myself a good kind of chance," said Pettersen. "And the third time I just made a solid stroke, and it dropped."
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South Korean Se Ri Pak finished alone in fourth place at 9-under-par, while Germany’s Sandra Gal and American Lexi Thompson shared fifth place a further shot behind.
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Katherine Hull had solid two-under-par final round to move up in a share for 33rd position at one-over. Unfortunately for fellow compatriot Lindsey Wright, she has struggled all week with illness and finished in a tie for 50th at six-over.
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