Hjorth wins easy as rivals stutter
Source: Agencies |
December 7, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MARIA Hjorth won the LPGA Tour Championship on Sunday, using a final-round 72 to hold off a field that struggled to even make par.
Hjorth had three birdies and three bogeys on a picture-perfect day at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, where only six of 120 players finished below par for the tournament. Third-round leader Amy Yang shot 74 to finish one shot back.
Hjorth finished at 5-under 283 for the tournament, the highest-winning score relative to par all year except for Paula Creamer's 3-under victory in the US Open at Oakmont. The firm and fluctuating greens at Grand Cypress played similar to the toughest major this week, and near-freezing conditions in the first two rounds only punctuated the challenges.
Yang made a birdie putt on the 18th from about 15 feet over a ridge, forcing Hjorth to sink an 8-foot putt slightly down hill to save par. She did, dropping her putter and lifting her arms in the air in triumph after it rolled in.
Yani Tseng also clinched LPGA player of the year, despite finishing 5 over for the tournament. None of the major season awards even changed hands this week.
The victory was only Hjorth's fourth LPGA win and first since 2007. It also was a sweet homecoming victory for the Swedish native who now lives a few miles away from the tournament, the first LPGA event in Florida in two years.
The season-ending tournament turned out to be anticlimactic, even though it was never easy.
Cristie Kerr also was within striking distance on Sunday to be the first American since Beth Daniel in 1994 to claim LPGA player of the year.
But her final-round 73 put her at 3 under for the tournament in a tie for third place.
Hjorth had three birdies and three bogeys on a picture-perfect day at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, where only six of 120 players finished below par for the tournament. Third-round leader Amy Yang shot 74 to finish one shot back.
Hjorth finished at 5-under 283 for the tournament, the highest-winning score relative to par all year except for Paula Creamer's 3-under victory in the US Open at Oakmont. The firm and fluctuating greens at Grand Cypress played similar to the toughest major this week, and near-freezing conditions in the first two rounds only punctuated the challenges.
Yang made a birdie putt on the 18th from about 15 feet over a ridge, forcing Hjorth to sink an 8-foot putt slightly down hill to save par. She did, dropping her putter and lifting her arms in the air in triumph after it rolled in.
Yani Tseng also clinched LPGA player of the year, despite finishing 5 over for the tournament. None of the major season awards even changed hands this week.
The victory was only Hjorth's fourth LPGA win and first since 2007. It also was a sweet homecoming victory for the Swedish native who now lives a few miles away from the tournament, the first LPGA event in Florida in two years.
The season-ending tournament turned out to be anticlimactic, even though it was never easy.
Cristie Kerr also was within striking distance on Sunday to be the first American since Beth Daniel in 1994 to claim LPGA player of the year.
But her final-round 73 put her at 3 under for the tournament in a tie for third place.
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