Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Kia Classic
|
||||
 Hee Kyung Seo was never seriously threatened for the title during the final round of the Kia Classic Presented by J Golf. Thing is, Seo isn’t even an LPGA Tour member. A star on the Korean LPGA Tour, Seo posted a 2-under-par 70 in Sunday’s final round at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad to register a 12-under total and score a convincing six-stroke win over fellow South Korea native and Fullerton resident Inbee Park. Seo pocketed $255,000 for the victory, the first in her sixth LPGA Tour start. Beginning the day with a five-shot lead at the circuit's first full-field event of 2010, Seo never faced any serious competition for the title. Even with a pair of bogeys on the front nine and a double bogey on the par-3 16th hole, she offset those with six birdies, including chip-ins on the eighth and 14th holes. “I didn’t care about the scores,” said Seo, who said she’ll wait until the end of the season to decide whether to join the LPGA Tour on a full-time basis. “I was just trying to show my talents in the last round and I think I did it.” On a long, demanding layout that felt like a major championship venue, Seo was the only player in the field to break par in all four rounds. She found the short grass nearly 80 percent of the time, hit the green two out of every three times, and averaged 26.3 putts per round. “I didn’t have tension in my body at all, so I just made my smoothness, reading and tempo, and that’s why I kept [hitting] many fairways and greens,” said Seo, who became the first sponsor’s exemption to win an LPGA event since Jin Joo Hong captured the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship in October 2006.  Seo loomed largest on the leaderboard, but most of the attention was focused on Michelle Wie (right) immediately following the tournament’s conclusion. The 20-year-old, whose career already has been marked by a few curious rulings, hit her ball out of the water in a hazard on the par-5 11th hole — the ball came out on to the grass, but still inside the hazard line, and before hitting again Wie grounded her club. Under Rule 13-4B, which says “the player must not touch the ground in the hazard or water in the water hazard with her hand or club,” that’s a two-stroke penalty.Wie knew that, but felt this was a unique situation since her right foot was in the water and her left foot was mounted awkwardly on a grassy bank — so grounding the club was necessary in order to maintain her balance and not fall in the water, a circumstance which would have negated the penalty. Following the round, she engaged in a lengthy plea with rules officials, a discussion broadcast entirely on the Golf Channel. Wie signed for a double bogey on the hole but said she has appealed the ruling. She closed with an even-par 72 and a 4-under total for sixth place — had she not endured the penalty strokes, she would have tied for second at 6-under par with Park and made about $78,000 more than the $46,963 she pocketed. “I definitely appealed it because they were basing the penalty on what it looked like. They never really asked me how I felt, so it felt a little unfair in that sense, but they make the rules so — there is only so much I could do,” said Wie. “I was a bit mad, but I thought I played solidly. There were a couple of shots that didn’t go my way, but I felt like it was a solid round.” This is the latest in a litany of high-profile rulings involving Wie. She's been disqualified twice before, once at the 2005 Samsung World Championship for taking an improper drop and then at the 2008 LPGA State Farm Classic for failing to sign her scorecard after the second round, an oversight that wasn't brought to her attention until after she completed her third round. “It’s always the kind of thing, oh, it always happens to me, but it’s Murphy’s Law, I guess,” she said. Park, a 21-year-old who works with Chong Paek at Westridge Golf Club in La Habra, fired a 7-under 65 Sunday, the lowest round of the week. It enabled her to vault into second place, her best finish since becoming the youngest winner of the U.S. Women’s Open in 2008. Said Park of her first three holes, which included two birdies and an eagle: “It was a great start; it was tough to beat.” Candie Kung, a former All-American at USC and junior standout at Fountain Valley High School, shot an even-par 72 and tied for third at 5-under par with reigning LPGA Rookie of the Year Jiyai Shin and Jee Young Lee. Three other players tied for sixth with Wie at 6-under: reigning Women’s British Open champion Catriona Matthew, Shanshan Feng and 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner Morgan Pressel. For a complete leaderboard, visit LPGA.com. Check back this week for coverage of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA Tour’s first major of the season. ALSO SEE: Seo builds five-shot lead at Kia Classic Min leads after first round of Kia Classic Five Southern Californians to watch at LPGA Tour's Kia Classic Michael Whan off to a fast start as LPGA Tour commissioner Five LPGA Tour players to watch |
||||
RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
Good to see a tlanet at work. I can?t match that.
| Comment at 6/4/2011 |
kvQ8A6 , [url=http://yybgcfsyeiwx.com/]yybgcfsyeiwx[/url], [link=http://ifykvcskzivd.com/]ifykvcskzivd[/link], http://bjuoetfxghku.com/
| Comment at 6/6/2011 |
TGXAKd , [url=http://ktjsvzfmdwmy.com/]ktjsvzfmdwmy[/url], [link=http://nryedgpoijew.com/]nryedgpoijew[/link], http://jgiypsbkwqeb.com/
| Comment at 6/9/2011 |
