Just a single stroke separated third-round leader Liselotte Neumann from Rachel Hetherington, Heather Daly-Donofrio and Christina Kim this morning. She broke out of a four-way tie with a birdie putt at 18 to place her on top of the leaderboard. Neumann had her last victory way back in 2004 at the Asahi Ryokuken International Championship.
Rachel Hetherington currently sits in 40th position on the ADT Money list with earnings of just under $300,000. Although Rachel has eight official victories on the LPGA Tour and an equal number of runner-up finishes, she hasn’t claimed a victory since 2003. Although Donofrio is the defending champion, her career as head of the LPGA keeps her from focusing too much on golf.
Christina Kim, relatively speaking, is the new kid on the block compared to the other golfers although after today’s one-stroke victory over Hetherington, Kim claims her second trophy on the LPGA tour. “To know I’m the champion of champions is an amazing feeling”, claimed an exhuberant Kim.
The beautiful trophy is created from Lenox Crystal. It seemed almost funny watching tournament sponsor Kathy Ireland attempt to pass this heavy crystal to Kim and hilarious watching Kim hoist it above her head and then lovingly kiss it numerous times.
That was the sight today after Kim was handed her reward, both the crystal and a check in the amount of $138,000. She was also crowned “champion of champions” as all of the winners in this elite group have won at least one tournament since 2003.
At 21-years-old Christina Kim (her real name is Kim Cho Rong) is a rookie on tour although she appears more seasoned than her years. She is very boisterous, screaming at each shot to “be right” or giving a “high-five” to her caddy/father after a tremendous shot. When her father congratulated her prematurely at the 18th hole Christina “shushed” him asking him to be patient until she knocked in her one-foot putt. Once done there was a great amount of fist-pumping and hugs to the man who accepted her decision to drop out of high school and get her GED instead so that she could go on to the Future’s Tour and follow her destiny.
After being handed the trophy and given accolades Kim was asked what she did differently to win this competition. Christina had been struggling this entire year but had not been in the winner’s circle since 2004 although playing a prominent part in the Team USA Solheim Cup victory. In her own inimitable way Christina replied, “I really don’t know what I did. I just hit the ball, tried to find it and hit it again!” Putting it in perspective Christina finished her comment with, “although most of my shots found the short grass!”.
In sharp contrast to the outgoing, fun-loving Kim is Rachel Hetherington. You might remember her as the former Rachel Teske but changed her name after marriage in 2004. She’s quiet but get’s the job done. A posible birdie putt at the 18th could have put Rachel in a play-off with Kim but she missed it by inches. Rachel also played a bogey-free round today and only had six total bogeys in four days of play. Nonetheless Hetherington walks away with a solo second place check of $84,563 and will most certainly move up in the standings.
Hetherington isn’t completely sad about the outcome. As she stated, “I hit my driver awesome today (referring to her new Callaway FT3). Christina and I played awesome golf today!”
Third place went to Liselotte Neumann, a veteran on the Ladies European Tour (LET). On the LET Neumann has played 104 events, won twelve and had forty-seven top-ten finishes. She places thirteenth on the Order of Merit. On the LPGA tour Liselotte has captured thirteen victories.
In final round action at the Crossings Course at Magnolia Grove, Neumann was too inconsistent to have a chance at victory. With an early birdie and an eagle at the par-5 4th hole, it looked as if Neumann was on the road to victory. A double-bogey at the par-5 13th hole quelled all of her dreams as she claimed a lost ball and had to venture back to the tee.
Last year’s winner and LPGA President Heather Daly-Donofrio (72) was having the time of her life at this tournament. Not only was she enjoying herself, Donofrio was also one-shot off the lead heading into the final round. She needed to stage a push in the final round but could only come up with a comfortable final round par. A top-five finish in this event shows that a possible comeback is in the future of this former Yale University graduate.
And where in the world was Paula Creamer? Although Creamer shot below par in all four rounds it wasn’t enough to get her into a top-ten spot. The Pink Panther finished her day with a 71 and sat in a tie for twelfth place alongside of Soo-Yun Kang and Marisa Baena.
Lorena Ochoa (69) finished in a tie for 17th with Hee-Won Han and Jeong Jang. Although Ochoa’s card over the past four days was speckled with bogeys she had a nice eagle at the same hole (13th) where Neumann lost her ball and finished strong with a birdie at the 18th.
Pressel Wins Final Amateur Title
Still an amateur but making her way to the big time, Morgan Pressel led her high school golf team to victory. Boca Raton’s St. Andrew’s School was thankful that they had Pressel on their team. Morgan defeated Vicky Hurst of Holy Trinity Episcopal with a 10-foot-putt on her second playoff hole.
“It was a great way to end my amateur career,” commented Pressel. “I came out this year for my school.”
Pressel will compete at the LPGA Qualifying School Tournament in Daytona Beach in three weeks. Barring any unforseen incidences, Pressel will play her first professional tournament on a sponsor’s exemption at the Safeway International at the start of the 2006 season. Way to go Morgan!
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Christina Kim -5 -15 67 67 72 67 2 Rachel Hetherington -4 -14 69 65 72 68 3 Liselotte Neumann -1 -12 66 72 67 71 4 Juli Inkster -3 -11 67 73 68 69 5 Heather Daly-Donofrio E -10 68 70 68 72 6 Sophie Gustafson -6 -9 71 73 69 66 T7 Pat Hurst -5 -8 71 69 73 67 T7 Carin Koch -4 -8 72 71 69 68 T9 Janice Moodie -3 -7 70 69 73 69 T9 Heather Bowie -3 -7 71 72 69 69 T9 Angela Stanford E -7 72 67 70 72
Photo Credit: © Getty Images.