Marisa Baena completed a surprising run from 60th seed to first-time US LPGA Tour winner on Sunday, holding off South Korean rookie Meena Lee 1-up in the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship.
"The funny thing about it is that I always believed I could do it, but this year I said, `You know what, I don't care if I win or not,'" Baena said. "This winter, I realized winning wasn't as important to me as I thought. ... I'm thinking, `Why am I so obsessed about winning?' I think once I took that load off, there I am winning."
A year after seriously considering giving up tour play, the 28-year-old Colombian beat six higher-seeded opponents to win in her 152nd start on the LPGA Tour. She earned US$500,000 and received a three-year tour exemption.
PHOTO: AP
"I'm sure in Colombia people are going crazy right now," said Baena, the country's first LPGA Tour winner. "I can't imagine the party that's going on at my country club."
Baena closed out the 23-year-old Lee with a conceded par on the par-4 18th after rolling her birdie try within 2 feet of the cup.
In the morning semifinals, Baena rallied to beat eighth-seeded Candie Kung of Taiwan 2-up. Baena opened the 64-player tournament with a victory over fifth-seeded Natalie Gulbis and also beat No. 37 Grace Park, No. 21 Jennifer Rosales and No. 29 Karrie Webb.
On Sunday morning, Baena overcame a two-hole deficit with five to play against Kung, the 23-year-old Taiwanese player who rallied from 2-down with four to play to beat top-seeded Annika Sorenstam in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
In the other semifinal, Lee beat 14th-seeded Wendy Ward 1-up.
Ward won the third-place match, rallying to beat Kung 2 and 1.
After finishing second three times this year, Jim Furyk answered Tiger Woods' charge with three straight birdies and hung on to win the tournament. It was his first victory since the 2003 Buick Open.
After tapping in for a par, Furyk took off his cap and shook hands with third round co-leader Ben Curtis. Furyk then turned and pumped his fists to the cheering crowd before sharing a long hug with caddie Fluff Cowan.
Furyk shot a 2-under 69, finishing the tournament at 14-under 270. Woods (66) was two strokes back at 272, though he did go over the US$50 million mark for career earnings.
Curtis faltered in his attempt to win for the first time since the 2003 British Open, shooting a 3-over 74. But he was still third, only his second top-10 finish since Royal St. George's.
Furyk got off to a rough start with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, and quickly found himself four strokes behind Curtis. But Furyk got himself going with a 23-foot birdie putt on No. 4, and climbed back into a tie at 12 under with a birdie on the par-3 No. 6.
Just as Furyk was finding his groove, though, Woods was picking up steam.
Beginning the day five strokes behind Furyk and Curtis, he surged into the lead with birdie-birdie-eagle on Nos. 9-11. He hit huge drives on No. 9 and 10 -- 305 and 354 yards, respectively -- but his showing on the par-5 11th was his best of the day.
Kenneth Ferrie's third successive round of 70 was enough for a two-stroke victory in the at the K Club.
The Englishman finished with a 3-under total of 285.
Colin Montgomerie, after a final round of 69, and Graeme Storm, with a 73, shared second place. Darren Clarke and Peter Hanson shared fourth place.
Thomas Bjorn, who led overnight by four strokes, hit an 86 -- including an 11 at the 17th hole where he hit three tee shots into the water -- to fall into a share of 33rd.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later