Oh Ji-young, playing in just her second year on the US LPGA Tour, won her first tournament on Sunday, sinking a 6-inch putt for par to win the State Farm Classic in a playoff with Taiwan’s Yani Tseng.
A day after the tournament lost its marquee player, Michelle Wie, to disqualification, the sudden-death playoff injected life into what had been an ordinary final round.
Oh and Tseng finished regulation at 18-under.
PHOTO: AP
Tseng, the leader coming into Sunday, chipped her third shot over the green and into the rough, then pitched her ball to about 6 feet from the cup.
But Oh’s third shot, from just inside the rough, left her with the tap-in that gave her the win.
Oh, who spoke English with reporters for much of the tournament, resorted to an interpreter after the playoff because she said she was floored by her first tour victory.
“I would love to do this interview in English, but my mind is totally blank,” she said through the interpreter.
Tseng, who shot a 66 in each of the first three rounds before her even-par 72 on Sunday, said after her loss that her nerves got the better of her on Sunday.
“I really feel nervous,” she said. “It’s my first time [to open a round] at the top of the leaderboard.”
Tseng, who won the LPGA Championship for her first career victory, said three of her closest losses — as a pro and an amateur — have come to South Koreans.
“I really don’t like playing with Koreans,” she joked.
Oh was among the steadiest golfers this week at Panther Creek Country Club.
She shot a 66 in each of the first two rounds to stay quietly just behind the leaders. Then she shot a 69 on Saturday to set herself up just behind Tseng.
Oh, like much of the field, struggled with heat and wind on Sunday, bogeying three holes. But she still managed six birdies and, as Tseng melted on the playoff hole, Oh calmly chipped in close and tapped in the winner.
“I wasn’t all that nervous,” she said. “Starting this week, from the first day, I’ve been playing pretty well.”
Choi Na-yeon finished in third place at 17-under for the tournament after shooting a 4-under 68 on Sunday.
On a day dominated by youth, China’s Feng Shanshan shot a 9-under 63 — the second best round of the tournament along with Christina Kim’s first round — and finished the tournament at 16-under, tied for fourth place with Stacy Prammanasudh and Han Hee-won.
Wie was disqualified after she finished her round Saturday _ a five-under 67 that had her a stroke off the lead _ for failing to sign her scorecard a day earlier.
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