Taiwan’s Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) won the LPGA Corning Classic by one shot over Kang Soo-yun and Paula Creamer on Sunday.
Tseng shot a five-under 67 for an overall 21-under 267 and claimed her second career victory when Kang missed a par putt on the final hole.
Tseng, last year’s LPGA rookie of the year, birdied No. 17 to tie Kang at 21-under after Creamer made a dramatic run to 20-under with a closing 65.
Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato (70) finished alone in fourth at 19-under, while Kim Song-hee (67) of South Korea, Ai Miyazato (68) of Japan, Sandra Gal (69) of Germany and Vicky Hurst (69) of the US were another shot back.
It was the second career victory for the 20-year-old Tseng, who won last year’s McDonald’s LPGA Championship in a four-hole playoff with Maria Hjorth.
“I’ve been waiting for a year to win a tournament,” Tseng said. “I wrote my [winning] speech in January. Every time I get so close and I don’t win. This week, I just let it go.”
Saturday’s third round was simply amazing as 11 players shot seven-under or better, with Tseng and Mika Miyazato each tying the course record with 10-under 62s and Hurst making 10 birdies en route to a 63.
Tseng began the round with a bogey and after eagling the second hole, reeled off 12 pars and a birdie.
Desperate for a spark with the holes dwindling, she used her driver at the par-four, 16th hole and drove the green, the ball stopping about 3.5m from the pin as Tseng high-fived her caddie.
Tseng settled for a tap-in birdie when her eagle putt stopped beside the hole, but she was tied for the lead at 20-under.
Tseng then birdied at 17 to tie it at 21-under.
Kang drove under the left trees at the 17th and managed to punch onto the green with a deft second shot and save par, but a bogey at the last handed the win to Tseng.
Taiwan’s Amy Hung (洪沁慧) shot a 67 on Sunday to finish on 10-under 278, tied for 39th place with four other players, while compatriot Teresa Lu (盧曉晴) carded a 72 to lie a further three shots back in a tie for 56th place.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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