(22 August 2011 – North Plains, Oregon).jpg)
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Norway&aposs Suzann Pettersen rallied to win the Safeway Classic, overcoming a nine-stroke deficit heading into the final round with a 7-under par 64 and then beating Na Yeon Choi with a par on the first hole of a playoff. Hee Young Park finished in outright third; one shot behind the leaders at 5-under par.
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rnIn the playoff, Choi&aposs second shot on the par-4 18th went into the water to the right of the green, and she missed a putt for bogey before Pettersen sank her winning putt.
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rnPettersen, coming off a victory at the LET’s Ladies Irish Open at Killeen Castle, won her second LPGA Tour title of the year and eighth overall. The Norwegian star jumped to No. 2 in the Rolex World rankings behind Yani Tseng.
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rnChoi finished with a final round of 2-over par 73 to match Pettersen at 6-under on the Ghost Creek Course. The tournament was hers for the taking when she birdied the par-4 17th to take a one-stroke lead. However, she dropped a shot after leaving a chip well short on the final hole to force the playoff.
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rnPettersen began her round knowing that only birdies would be good enough to get herself back into contention. Being nine behind, it probably gave her the freedom to just go for it with all the pressure on the leaders to hold off any challengers.
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rnShe got off to the flyer that she needed with three straight birdies from the 2nd hole before her round came to somewhat of a halt with a bogey at the 8th hole to go out in 2-under par and at that stage was still 7 shots off the lead.
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rnHer round got going again with an eagle-birdie start to the back-nine and this time the momentum continued as she added birdies at the 15th and 17th holes to get into the clubhouse at 6-under par. She had teed off nearly 2 hours ahead of the leaders and it was just a case of waiting. It was certainly worth the wait as she went on to win the playoff at the first hole.
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rnIn other news, Christina Kim held onto 10th spot in the US Solheim Cup standings to automatically secure her spot for the trip to Killeen Castle next month. Kim went into the event trying to hold off Katie Futcher, Kristy McPherson and Vicky Hurst for the last of automatic spots on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. Rosie Jones has added Ryann O’Toole and Vicky Hurst as her two captains’ picks for the September 23-25 matches.
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rnAs for the ALPG contingent, it was a breakthrough week for Sarah Kemp who finished in a tie for 10th, her equal best finish in an LPGA tournament. More importantly, it catapults her up the money list and with only a few full-field events remaining should see her retain her card for 2012. Karrie Webb was the only other member to make the cut, finishing in a tie for 47th.
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