Tseng skips second with LPGA victory

May 25, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

CORNING, N.Y. (AP) — Yani Tseng breathed a big sigh of relief. All those runner-up finishes became a distant memory with one missed putt.

The 20-year-old from Taiwan won the LPGA Corning Classic on Sunday by one shot over South Korean Soo-Yun Kang (69) and Paula Creamer (65). Tseng, the youngest player in LPGA history to surpass $2 million in earnings, finished at 21-under 267 for her second career victory and moved into third on this year’s money list.

“I’ve been waiting for a year to win a tournament,” said Tseng, a runner-up five times as a rookie and once more this year. “I wrote my [winning] speech in January. Every time I get so close and I don’t win. This week I just let it go.”

Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato (70) was fourth at 19 under, while Song-Hee Kim (67) of South Korea, Ai Miyazato (68) of Japan, Sandra Gal (69) of Germany and Vicky Hurst (69) were another shot back.

Tseng thought she was headed for a playoff and was stunned when Kang missed a 3-foot par putt on the final hole.

“I didn’t even know how she missed the putt,” Tseng said. “My head was down. Everybody was just, ’You win! You win!’ ”

“I misread the green,” said a deflated Kang, whose only career victory came in the 2005 Safeway Classic. “I already cried. I played well this week. I can make a win. I just keep trying hard.”

So much as been made of rookie Michelle Wie, but she has yet to win a tournament, while Tseng, Inbee Park and Morgan Pressel all defeated Wie in amateur match-play competition and won LPGA majors as teenagers.

Tseng, last season’s rookie of the year, won the 2008 McDonald’s LPGA Championship in a four-hole playoff with Maria Hjorth, Park captured the 2008 Women’s U.S. Open, and Pressel won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Too young to drink legally, Tseng smiled when Creamer sprayed her with a beer on the 18th green during the winning celebration. And she was well aware that her first trip to Corning would be her last, at least for now.