Sunday, May 29, 2005
Even Annika Sorenstam couldn't catch the tour's seventh first-time winner.
CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- For a change, Annika Sorenstam just didn't have it. Jimin Kang did.
Unfazed by a double bogey that dropped her two shots off the lead at the LPGA Corning Classic with four holes to play and with Sorenstam lurking right behind, Kang made the first ace of her brief pro career and beat the super Swede and 23-year-old rookie Meena Lee by two shots on Sunday.
"I still can't feel it," Kang said after her first LPGA Tour victory. "It's not coming yet. Hopefully, it's coming soon, when the check comes maybe."
Kang, whose best previous finish was a tie for 19th at the Michelob Ultra Open four weeks ago, shot a career-low 66 and won $165,000, twice what she had pocketed since joining the tour in 2003.
She finished at 15-under 273, eclipsing her previous best 72-hole score by 11 shots.
Runner-up for 39th time
Sorenstam, a runner-up for the 39th time in her amazing 11-year career, shot a closing 69 and earned $87,085 to boost her total for the year over $1 million.
Bothered all weekend by a nagging cold, she never mounted one of her patented charges until it was too late.
"I did have a chance," said Sorenstam, the defending champion who had three birdies over her last seven holes.
"Obviously, I wish I would have felt a little better so I could have given it a little more, but I didn't have much more to give."
Kang and Lee, playing in the group ahead of Sorenstam, began the final hole tied at 15 under. Lee then suffered a meltdown, clearing the way for Kang.
Lee's drive at the 18th sailed under a tree, and her second shot clipped some branches, leaving her with a difficult, slanting lie at the right edge of the green. When her pitch fell short, she two-putted for double bogey, and Kang made a short par putt for the win.
Nearly blew it on 14th
After her disastrous play at the par-5 14th, a victory seemed remote at best for the 25-year-old Kang. She had missed a 5-foot putt for par and pulled her 3-foot bogey putt coming back.
"I kept telling myself at the corner of the green, 'It's OK, it's fine, just move on.' " said Kang, who became the seventh first-time winner in the tournament's 27-year history and deprived Sorenstam of her fifth victory in seven starts this year. "I think it worked."
It did.
Kang hit a 9-iron right at the pin at No. 15, and the ball bounced twice on the green and rolled into the hole. It was the fourth hole-in-one of the weekend, a tournament record.
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