Jiyai Shin made a two-putt par on the ninth hole of a playoff yesterday to beat Paula Creamer and win the Kingsmill Championship, ending the longest playoff between two players in LPGA Tour history.
The players played the 18th hole eight times trying to break the tie on Sunday before darkness forced the suspension of play.
They drew a crowd of several hundred fans yesterday morning and needed just one more hole to settle it.
Creamer hit her double-break first putt about five feet past the hole. She then missed the bending follow-up attempt, the ball hitting the right edge and spinning out. Shin’s first putt stopped three feet from the cup.
The two were teeing up for the ninth time at the 18th hole on Sunday when it was decided it was too dark to continue.
“This is a hard birdie hole,” Creamer said.
The American had put her ball on the tee when play was stopped and while she would like to have seen a result, she said it was too dark to play on.
“I wanted to play, but when I teed it up back there it was a no-go,” Creamer said.
Shin said she had never experienced anything like the playoff.
“I know winning is always tough — but not this tough,” Shin said.
The playoff broke the record of seven holes set when Cristie Kerr beat Jeon Seol-an at the 2004 Takefuji Classic.
“It just was really long tough day, but it will be good experience for us, and, well, first couple holes of the playoff I was really, really nervous, but after that I started getting comfortable with it, the playoff. It’s just, like, so weird,” Shin said.
Taiwan’s Candie Kung carded a final-round 71 to finish tied for 14th place on eight-under 276.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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