Yani Tseng of Taiwan became the first rookie in 10 years to win a major, beating Maria Hjorth on the fourth hole of a playoff with a
5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in Havre de Grace Md.
Tseng, a 19-year-old with a decorated amateur career, closed with a 4-under 68 and became the second-youngest woman to win a major. Not since Se Ri Pak in the 1998 McDonald’s LPGA Championship had a player won a major as a rookie.
“I feel so lucky,” Tseng said.
Hjorth appeared to have fate on her side when her fairway metal bounced off the rocks in a creek, over a ledge and across the green, turning a bogey into a birdie on the 15th hole. She closed with a 71, and missed a 12-foot birdie before Tseng holed the winning putt.
Lorena Ochoa went 14 holes without a birdie, ending her hopes of winning a third straight major. She birdied two of the last three holes for a 71 and finished one shot out of the playoff, along with Annika Sorenstam.
Sorenstam had a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to get into the playoff, but she left it short and shot 71.
“It wasn’t my time,” Ochoa said, showing more emotion than she had all week. “I am not ashamed. I’m proud of my finish. Now I move on and try to win the next few tournaments.”
Equally disappointed was Sorenstam, trying to join Mickey Wright as the only four-time winners of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. She gave herself so many chances, and the final putt summed up her week.
“It’s a tough time,” Sorenstam said. “I was determined today, really this whole week. I felt like I could do it.”
Tseng and Hjorth finished at
12-under 276.

Leonard wins St. Jude

Justin Leonard won the Stanford St. Jude Championship in a playoff, holing a 19-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to beat Masters champion Trevor Immelman and Robert Allenby in Memphis, Tenn.
Leonard blew a one-stroke lead with two holes left to drop into the playoff, but won on the 150-yard, par-3 11th when Immelman pushed his birdie attempt past the hole.
It was Leonard’s 12th PGA Tour title, his second at TPC Southwind and his first since the 2007 Valero Texas Open. He closed with a 4-under 68 to match Allenby (65) and Immelman (69) at
4-under 276.
Leonard earned $1.08 million and now is fifth in the Ryder Cup standings. He has not played in the Ryder Cup since 1999, when his
45-foot putt on the 17th hole at Brookline clinched the largest comeback in history.
Leonard was the closest to a birdie on the first hole of the playoff on the par-4 18th only to come up a foot short. All three parred, sending the playoff to the island green at No. 11.
Allenby, who came in undefeated worldwide in 10 playoffs, went first from 21½ feet and missed a foot to the right. Leonard stroked in his putt next, the ball slowing near the cup to show off the Nike logo before falling in.
Immelman, who birdied the last three holes of regulation to join the playoff, had the shortest putt at 11 feet to push the playoff to a third hole. But he just missed, giving the title to Leonard.

18 pars bring victory

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh won the Bank Austria Open, parring all 18 holes in the final round for a 71 and a
one-stroke victory over England’s Simon Wakefield in the rain-shortened tournament at Oberwaltersdorf, Austria. Singh finished at 15-under 198.

Gutschewski gets title

Scott Gutschewski won his second career Nationwide Tour title, closing with a 5-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Chad Ginn and Esteban Toledo in the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C.
Gutschewski finished with a 14-under 270 total at TPC Wakefield Plantation and earned $90,000 to jump from 35th to eighth on the money list with $166,735. The 31-year-old former Nebraska player also won the tour’s 2003 Monterey Peninsula Classic.
Toledo finished with a 69, and Ginn shot a 71.

 

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