After playing 36 holes on Sunday, Cristie Kerr finally broke through to win her first tournament of the year. The victory, the fifth of her career, provided her a beautiful crystal trophy as well as a whopping $330,000 check, the second largest payout on tour this year. Kerr’s third-round action mimicked her previous two rounds as the fan favorite shot a third consecutive 68. By the afternoon 18, however, Cristie stumbled just a bit and came home in one-over 72. When asked how she felt after her bogey at 18 which clinched her victory, Cristie replied, “I need a Michelob Ultra. We’re going to drink it out of the trophy!” At that moment, Natalie Gulbis grabbed a Michelob, shook it and let it erupt all over Kerr.
With Cristie’s stellar performance this tournament, she takes 2nd place on the Official Money List with $670,000 in earnings, just behind Annika Sorenstam. Lorena Ochoa follows the two golfers.
Finishing in solo second place was Jill McGill, who tied Kerr with a 72 in final-round action. Both players felt the pressure of the long day. When McGill was asked at the 18th about her round she replied, “My short game held me in there, I chipped in three times this week.” Jill’s driver kept her in play but she had a “concentration problem being out there 36 holes today”.
Annika Sorenstam proved that she is only human today, capping off her final round with a 3-over 74 to throw her out of contention. There was a glimmer of hope earlier in the morning as Sorenstam played her early third round at 2-under 69, leaving her at a 1-under for the tournament and in fifth place.
After only a 15 minute respite, Annika returned to work. A bogey on the first started her downhill spiral, but it wasn’t until her double bogey on the third hole that she felt out of contention, her hopes of winning a record-setting sixth straight victory dashed in the process. The double bogey and bad putting cost her the tournament, missing putts by inches. She had so much trouble reading the greens today, she even asked her caddie to read the greens for the rest of the tournament. “Life goes on,” she said. “There’s a new tournament next week. Hopefully I can read those greens.”
Annika continued, “I had a great opportunity… and it just didn’t happen, unfortunately. I’m a little sad about that.” The last time Annika played 36 holes on a Sunday, she won her seventh major at the 2004 LPGA Championship.
Tied for third place was the threesome, Natalie Gulbis (73), Catriona Matthew (71) and Michele Redman (70). Amateur Morgan Pressel (69) finished impressively in a tie for 19th, even with a double bogey finish at the 18th. Only 8 players scored below par in fourth round action this afternoon.
State Farm Bonus Pool points were also awarded to Cristie Kerr today, putting her on firm footing for a share of the $250,000 bonus pool, given to the top 20 players at the finish of the nine-even sponsorship.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Cristie Kerr +1 -8 68 68 68 72 2 Jill McGill +1 -3 68 72 69 72 T3 Natalie Gulbis +2 -2 69 73 67 73 T3 Catriona Matthew E -2 70 71 70 71 T3 Michele Redman -1 -2 69 69 74 70 T6 Gloria Park -2 -1 71 71 72 69 T6 A J Eathorne -1 -1 69 69 75 70 T8 Juli Inkster E +1 69 75 70 71 T8 Mi Hyun Kim +2 +1 69 72 71 73 T8 Rosie Jones -2 +1 71 70 75 69 T8 Shi Hyun Ahn +2 +1 69 70 73 73 T12 Annika Sorenstam +3 +2 76 67 69 74 T12 Grace Park +2 +2 69 73 71 73 T12 Silvia Cavalleri +1 +2 67 74 73 72
Photo Credit: © AP.