GOLF

Monday, August 21, 2006 GOLF Other events LPGA PORTLAND, Ore. — Pat Hurst shot a final round, 4-under 68 and held off Jeong Jang to win the Safeway Classic at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club on Sunday. Hurst finished with a 10-under 206 on the par-72, 6,327 course near Portland International Airport. Hurst watched solemnly as Jang, who was at 9 under, missed an 18-foot-birdie putt on the par-4 No. 18 hole that would have forced a playoff. Jang finished with a 70 for a 9-under 207, along with Kim Saiki, who shot a 67. Juli Inkster had a 70 to finish at 208. "I had a pretty hot start, I birdied three of the first four holes, I think, and I just kept it steady after that," Hurst said. It was Hurst's fifth victory on the LPGA Tour and first since last year's State Farm Classic. She lost to Annika Sorenstam in an 18-hole playoff at this year's U.S. Women's Open. The LPGA Tour's rookie of the year in 1995, Hurst has been playing solidly this season with seven top-10 finishes. Saiki, who sneaked onto the leaderboard for the final round, got married in January and has been playing a limited schedule. She admittedly has not been playing well on weekends this year, with a previous best-finish of 20th. She finished the final round with five birdies and no bogeys. "When I birdied 14, that was when I knew I had a chance," Saiki said. Morgan Pressel, Jenna Daniels, Jang and Candie Kung were the leaders by a stroke going into the final round, with six others one shot off the pace. Defending champion Soo-Yun Kang withdrew after nine holes on Saturday because of a neck injury. CHAMPIONS TOUR SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Tom Kite took advantage of a wildly erratic Keith Fergus, who hit two spectators and the cartpath three separate times during the one-hole playoff, to win the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic. Kite, who began the day three behind second-round leader Don Pooley, shot a 6-under 66 to finish with a three-day score of 15-under 201. Fergus started five shots behind Pooley and reached 15-under with a 64. Kite birdied the first playoff hole, the par-5, 554-yard No. 18, while Fergus bogeyed. It was Kite's ninth career Champions Tour victory — third in a playoff — and a $240,000 first-place check. Pooley had a chance to join the playoff but missed a 14-foot birdie try on 18. He finished with a 70, one back in a group with Scott Simpson (69), Wayne Levi (66), David Edwards (66) and Tom Jenkins — who had an 11-under 61, his career low. Associated Press COPYRIGHT 2006 ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN, OR REDISTRIBUTED.