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| A great result for Choi. |
NA YEON CHOI, WHO BEGAN the final round of the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia with a one-stroke lead on Brittany Lang, wasn’t shaking in her golf spikes until the back nine. That’s when Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng, the winner of six LPGA events this season (including the last two), made a run at the trophy.
“I wasn’t nervous when I started today,” said Choi, “but starting getting nervous on 15 when I hear that Yani got birdie, birdie.”
Tseng had a number in mind—65. “Today before I’m going to play, I tell myself, just shoot 6 under and finish 14 under,” she said. That’s exactly what Tseng did.
But Choi didn’t wilt under the pressure of Tseng’s charge. The South Korean got to 14 under with a birdie on the 15th. Then she birdied the par-3 17th to take a one-stroke lead and parred the final hole for a 68 that secured the victory.
“I was so nervous,” Choi admitted, “but I had a great result. So it feels amazing.” It was Choi’s first win this season and fifth career title.
Tseng, golf’s new dominant player, increased her 2011 winnings to $2,563,269. I probably don’t need to tell you that’s a bundle of money, especially considering the LPGA Tour purses as compared to the PGA Tour gravy train.
Next up is this week’s Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship.
−The Armchair Golfer
(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)
she did exactly as she said she would do. that must take an extraordinary amount of discipline to do
It was an impressive performance, for sure.