PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) ― A week like no other on the LPGA Tour ended in a most appropriate manner Sunday when Lee Il-hee won for the first time.
Lee made a clutch par putt on the second-to-last hole in a raging wind to keep a one-shot lead, and then she drilled a fairway metal out of light rough and onto the par-5 18th green to set up a two-putt birdie. That gave her a 5-under 42 for a two-shot win over Irene Cho in the Bahamas LPGA Classic.
It was only fitting that she finished in a downpour. Flooding earlier in the week left so much of the Ocean Club course under water that the tour’s best option ― especially with new sponsors Ohio-based Pure Silk and the Bahamas Tourism Ministry ― was to shorten the course to 12 holes and play three rounds to reach the 36 holes required for an official event.
Lee made a clutch par putt on the second-to-last hole in a raging wind to keep a one-shot lead, and then she drilled a fairway metal out of light rough and onto the par-5 18th green to set up a two-putt birdie. That gave her a 5-under 42 for a two-shot win over Irene Cho in the Bahamas LPGA Classic.
It was only fitting that she finished in a downpour. Flooding earlier in the week left so much of the Ocean Club course under water that the tour’s best option ― especially with new sponsors Ohio-based Pure Silk and the Bahamas Tourism Ministry ― was to shorten the course to 12 holes and play three rounds to reach the 36 holes required for an official event.
The most sensible routing was a strange one. Every player started on No. 10 and then jumped from one side to the next. The course dried enough that the par-5 18th was used for the first time all week, and the fourth hole ― which had been converted from a par 5 to a par 3 ― was eliminated.
Lee birdied her opening three holes to quickly catch Paola Moreno at 9 under, and she added a birdie on the 14th to take the outright lead.
Cho, who teed off two hours before Lee, got into the mix by holing a 9-iron into the wind from 118 yards on the par-5 11th hole ― the fifth hole her round ― and birdied three of the last five holes for a 7-under 40. The 7 under matched the low score of the week.
Anna Nordqvist had a 2-under 45 to finish alone in third. Cristie Kerr, coming off a win in Kingsmill two weeks ago, was in position for so much of the day and couldn’t make a putt, the strength of her game. She even laid flat on her stomach for a 7-foot attempt on her ninth hole, only for it to bump off line. Kerr had to settle for a 46 and a five-way tie for fourth that included Paula Creamer (45) and Mika Miyazato (45).
Lee, who tied for third at Kingsmill for her best finish this year, set modest goals when she arrived at the course and saw flags rippling hard in a wind that only grew stronger.
“I was thinking 4 under for the day,” she said. “I saw the wind blowing super hard and I changed my goal ― maybe even par. And then I birdied the first hole, the second hole, the third hole. And then, maybe this is the day.”
It certainly was. She played bogey-free in a wind that was far stronger than what Cho faced, and Lee was all smiles as she walked off the green. She carried a small Bohemian flag.
Lee finished at 11-under 126 and won $195,000.
Cho’s eagle from the 11th fairway was but a small part of her exciting round. Two holes later, her shot drifted onto the sandy beach and she figured she might as well try to play it.
“It was in the beach, and there was some water around it,” Cho said. “And I was like, ‘Shoot, I’m going to pull out a little Bill Haas and just try to get this up and over.’ I got it out perfect.”
The Colonial
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ― Boo Weekley was at the 13th hole during the final round of the Colonial before he finally glanced at a leaderboard ― and saw his name on the top.
It was at that par 3 surrounded by an often rowdy crowd that he also heard the loudest “Boo!” in quite some time.
Weekley hit his birdie putt from about 22 feet, then swiped his putter in the air as if guiding the ball into the cup. He thrust the club above his head when the ball dropped to get him to 14 under, where he finished Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory in five years.
“That’s when I realized, ‘Wow, here I go.’ I need to do something, either hold on to it or try to make a couple of more birdies,” Weekley said. “I knew I was hitting the ball too well just to hold on.”
With five consecutive pars after that, Weekly finished at 14-under 266 for a one-stroke victory over Matt Kuchar, the second- and third-round leader who had a closing 68.
Defending Colonial champion Zach Johnson, who also won at Hogan’s Alley in 2010, shot 66 to finish third at 12 under for his first top-10 finish this season.
BMW PGA Championship
VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) ― Italy’s Matteo Manassero became the youngest champion in the 58-year history of the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, beating England’s Simon Khan with a birdie on the fourth hole of a playoff.
Manassero, at 20 years, 37 days, made amends for letting victory slip away two years ago at Wentworth. The previous youngest winner was Scotland’s Bernhard Gallacher in 1969 at 20 years, 97 days. With the victory, his fourth European Tour title, Manassero qualified for the U.S. Open next month and avoided a 36-hole qualifier Monday at Walton Heath.
Senior PGA Championship
ST. LOUIS (AP) ― Kohki Idoki’s eyes welled with tears as he putted for the Senior PGA Championship, and again in the interview room Sunday. Everything about his first appearance in the event, and first trip to the United States, was perfect.
“It is one of the greatest things to win in this game, so I cannot imagine more,” Idoki said Sunday through a translator. “I can’t believe that I am the champion.”
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Articles by Korea Herald