Body-bumping Kim celebrates spot in final

She and seven others are in today’s 18-hole ADT Championship shootout.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Christina Kim watched her pro-am partners do football-style body bumps, and they told her to do the same celebration on the 18th hole during the ADT Championship. She couldn’t think of a better occasion than Saturday afternoon.

Kim hit a 7-iron that stopped 2 feet behind the hole for a birdie to claim the eighth and final spot in the final round, giving her just as much of a chance as anyone to win the $1 million prize.

With a bleacher full of sun-baked fans still cheering, Kim charged over to caddie Donna Southam and leaped with a twist, slightly higher than when Phil Mickelson won his first Masters, and they bumped each other to celebrate the clutch moment.

It got even better when Nicole Castrale hit her approach into the water, just as she did in regulation, to fall into the playoff.

So concluded another nerve-racking afternoon at Trump International, where eight of the 16 players who qualified for the 18-hole shootout today had every reason to dream of the biggest payoff in women’s golf.

Lorena Ochoa was solid as ever, playing bogey-free for a 6-under 66 to tie for the low round Saturday with Paula Creamer, who was helped by a wedge she holed out for eagle on the par-5 15th.

Karrie Webb, whose 50-foot birdie putt Friday enabled her to avoid a playoff, had no stress in her round of 68. The other qualifiers were U.S. Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis, Sarah Lee and Mi Hyun Kim, who had the best turnaround of all.

Mi Hyun Kim was at 5 under with five holes to play and still in good shape after bogeys at the 14th and 16th. But she caught a plugged lie in the bunker on the 18th that led to double bogey, and minutes later, she was in a 4-for-2 playoff starting on the 17th tee.

One swing changed everything.

Kim hit a hybrid 5-iron to 7 feet for birdie to earn a spot in the final round.

“I feel so sad after that,” she said of her double bogey. “Anyway, I made it. Scores are zero tomorrow.”

Just like the third round, the scores will be wiped out for the final 18 holes, where the winner gets $1 million and second place gets $100,000, the biggest disparity of prize money in golf.

“It’s all or nothing,” Creamer said.