Grandstand finish by Hee Kyung Seo
wins Saint Four Ladies Masters
FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Hee Kyung Seo birdied her last four holes to claim the inaugural Saint Four Ladies Masters on Jeju Island in South Korea on Sunday.
The 22-year-old defeated compatriot Sun-Ju Ahn by two strokes on home soil at Saint Four Golf and Resort to win the top prize of 47,592 Euros. The three-round tournament was co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA).
Starting the final round on eight-under-par, one stroke behind Ahn, Seo closed with a six-under 66 for a three round total of 14-under-par 202. Ahn carded 69 for outright second, with So Yeon Ryu a shot further back in third after a 65.
Seo, ranked second behind this year’s Ricoh Women’s British Open champion Ji-Yai Shin on the KLPGA Money List, began slowly with a bogey at the fourth hole, but her fortunes turned when she birdied the seventh for the third day running. She trailed Ahn by four strokes at the turn but fired six birdies over the back nine for an inward total of 30. After tapping in for birdie at the tricky par-five 15th, Seo eventually caught Ahn when she sank a curling 20 foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th.
She pulled a shot clear at the par-four 17th and sealed the win with an eight foot birdie putt at the last hole. “From the very beginning of the event, I thought I could win,” said Seo. “I achieved quite good scores yesterday, which improved my confidence. I tried not to make too short putts.”
Seo has won five times on the KLPGA Tour this year and said that her game had improved significantly since she spent time practising with her friend Shin over the summer. She said that she could not believe how much Shin practised, which made her improve her short game. Seo now intends to accept the offer of membership of the LET in category 3 for the current and the next three seasons until the end of 2011, which would see her exempt for the Evian Masters and most other tournaments on the LET schedule.
She added: “What I envied about Shin was that she could have a variety of selections for the events (in which) to participate. I will continue to focus on the KLPGA tour but try to expand my fields by taking part in major LET events.”
According to officials from the KLPGA, golf is part of the school curriculum in Korea and for students who choose golf as their main sport at the age of 13, it is compulsory to practise for a minimum of two hours a day, seven days a week.
This may help to explain why the top 14 places were filled with Korean names this week, and they comprise almost a third of the world’s top 100 ranked players. Italy’s Veronica Zorzi was the best placed LET member in a share of 15th place on four-under-par.
Meanwhile her compatriot Margherita Rigon, Belgium’s Lara Tadiotto and Australian Anna Rawson were part of a group of players a shot further back in a share of 17th.
The standard of scoring was high as witness the fact that Clare Queen finished on one-under-par 215 but finished well down the field and earned only 1909 Euros. Gwladys Nocera finished on the same mark.
Clare started with an eagle 2 but bogeyed the fourth and double-bogeyed the short fifth before settling down to cover the last 13 holes in two under par with birdies at the short seventh and long 10th and pars at the others.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
202 Hee Kyung Seo 69 67 66
204 Sun Ju Ahn 65 70 69
205 So yeon Ryu 69 71 65
207 Da-ye Na 71 66 70, Hye-yong Choi 71 67 69
209 Ha Na Jang (USA) 72 68 69, Bo kyung Kim 73 67 69, Chae a Oh 68 72 69
210 Hei ji Kim 71 67 72, Ae-ree Pyun 71 68 71, Soo-Yun Kang 70 71 69, Sun Wook Lim 72 70 68
211 Hyun Hee Moon 74 68 69, Hye Jung Choi 73 67 71
212 Veronica Zorzi (Ita) 69 69 74, Hyun-ji Kim 71 72 69
213 Bo-bea Park 72 68 73, Chae young Yoon 70 71 72, So young ii Kim 71 72 70, Hye Jin Jung 74 69 70, Lara Tadiotto (Bel) 74 71 68, Anna Rawson (Aus) 71 70 72, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 70 70 73
214 Johanna Head (Eng) 71 72 71, Hyeon-ju Lee 73 71 70, Bo mi Kim 70 69 75, An-na Oh 70 72 72
215 Young ae Ham 73 72 70, Amy Yang (USA) 71 72 72, Jeong eun v Lee 70 73 72, Florence Luscher (Swi) 73 71 71, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 68 75 72, Kyeong Eun Bae 74 70 71, Ju mi Kim 69 72 74, Clare Queen (Sco) 70 74 71
216 Laurette Maritz (Rsa) 73 71 72, Bit na Kim 72 73 71
217 Hye in Lee 70 73 74, Sang hee Kim 75 71 71, Il Mi Chung 77 68 72, Hye lee Kim 73 73 71, Ji-na Lim 73 71 73, Ha-neul Kim 72 73 72, Eun-bi Jang 75 70 72
218 Hye youn Kim 73 72 73, Hae Jung Kim 74 72 72, Bomi Suh (USA) 72 72 74, Min sun ii Kim 71 73 74, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 70 74 74, Han min Jee 73 73 72
219 Bo-me Lee 74 70 75, Um-ji Kang 74 72 73, Carmen Alonso (Spa) 76 68 75
220 Hui jeong Kim 71 75 74, Mi-hee Jung 73 73 74, Min gee Song 75 70 75, Bo bae Kim 71 75 74, Marjet Van Der Graaff (Ned) 71 74 75
221 Soo Young Moon 69 68 84
224 Ellen Smets (Bel) 76 70 78, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 72 73 79
225 Ran Hong 75 69 81
wins Saint Four Ladies Masters
FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Hee Kyung Seo birdied her last four holes to claim the inaugural Saint Four Ladies Masters on Jeju Island in South Korea on Sunday.
The 22-year-old defeated compatriot Sun-Ju Ahn by two strokes on home soil at Saint Four Golf and Resort to win the top prize of 47,592 Euros. The three-round tournament was co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA).
Starting the final round on eight-under-par, one stroke behind Ahn, Seo closed with a six-under 66 for a three round total of 14-under-par 202. Ahn carded 69 for outright second, with So Yeon Ryu a shot further back in third after a 65.
Seo, ranked second behind this year’s Ricoh Women’s British Open champion Ji-Yai Shin on the KLPGA Money List, began slowly with a bogey at the fourth hole, but her fortunes turned when she birdied the seventh for the third day running. She trailed Ahn by four strokes at the turn but fired six birdies over the back nine for an inward total of 30. After tapping in for birdie at the tricky par-five 15th, Seo eventually caught Ahn when she sank a curling 20 foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th.
She pulled a shot clear at the par-four 17th and sealed the win with an eight foot birdie putt at the last hole. “From the very beginning of the event, I thought I could win,” said Seo. “I achieved quite good scores yesterday, which improved my confidence. I tried not to make too short putts.”
Seo has won five times on the KLPGA Tour this year and said that her game had improved significantly since she spent time practising with her friend Shin over the summer. She said that she could not believe how much Shin practised, which made her improve her short game. Seo now intends to accept the offer of membership of the LET in category 3 for the current and the next three seasons until the end of 2011, which would see her exempt for the Evian Masters and most other tournaments on the LET schedule.
She added: “What I envied about Shin was that she could have a variety of selections for the events (in which) to participate. I will continue to focus on the KLPGA tour but try to expand my fields by taking part in major LET events.”
According to officials from the KLPGA, golf is part of the school curriculum in Korea and for students who choose golf as their main sport at the age of 13, it is compulsory to practise for a minimum of two hours a day, seven days a week.
This may help to explain why the top 14 places were filled with Korean names this week, and they comprise almost a third of the world’s top 100 ranked players. Italy’s Veronica Zorzi was the best placed LET member in a share of 15th place on four-under-par.
Meanwhile her compatriot Margherita Rigon, Belgium’s Lara Tadiotto and Australian Anna Rawson were part of a group of players a shot further back in a share of 17th.
The standard of scoring was high as witness the fact that Clare Queen finished on one-under-par 215 but finished well down the field and earned only 1909 Euros. Gwladys Nocera finished on the same mark.
Clare started with an eagle 2 but bogeyed the fourth and double-bogeyed the short fifth before settling down to cover the last 13 holes in two under par with birdies at the short seventh and long 10th and pars at the others.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
202 Hee Kyung Seo 69 67 66
204 Sun Ju Ahn 65 70 69
205 So yeon Ryu 69 71 65
207 Da-ye Na 71 66 70, Hye-yong Choi 71 67 69
209 Ha Na Jang (USA) 72 68 69, Bo kyung Kim 73 67 69, Chae a Oh 68 72 69
210 Hei ji Kim 71 67 72, Ae-ree Pyun 71 68 71, Soo-Yun Kang 70 71 69, Sun Wook Lim 72 70 68
211 Hyun Hee Moon 74 68 69, Hye Jung Choi 73 67 71
212 Veronica Zorzi (Ita) 69 69 74, Hyun-ji Kim 71 72 69
213 Bo-bea Park 72 68 73, Chae young Yoon 70 71 72, So young ii Kim 71 72 70, Hye Jin Jung 74 69 70, Lara Tadiotto (Bel) 74 71 68, Anna Rawson (Aus) 71 70 72, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 70 70 73
214 Johanna Head (Eng) 71 72 71, Hyeon-ju Lee 73 71 70, Bo mi Kim 70 69 75, An-na Oh 70 72 72
215 Young ae Ham 73 72 70, Amy Yang (USA) 71 72 72, Jeong eun v Lee 70 73 72, Florence Luscher (Swi) 73 71 71, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 68 75 72, Kyeong Eun Bae 74 70 71, Ju mi Kim 69 72 74, Clare Queen (Sco) 70 74 71
216 Laurette Maritz (Rsa) 73 71 72, Bit na Kim 72 73 71
217 Hye in Lee 70 73 74, Sang hee Kim 75 71 71, Il Mi Chung 77 68 72, Hye lee Kim 73 73 71, Ji-na Lim 73 71 73, Ha-neul Kim 72 73 72, Eun-bi Jang 75 70 72
218 Hye youn Kim 73 72 73, Hae Jung Kim 74 72 72, Bomi Suh (USA) 72 72 74, Min sun ii Kim 71 73 74, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 70 74 74, Han min Jee 73 73 72
219 Bo-me Lee 74 70 75, Um-ji Kang 74 72 73, Carmen Alonso (Spa) 76 68 75
220 Hui jeong Kim 71 75 74, Mi-hee Jung 73 73 74, Min gee Song 75 70 75, Bo bae Kim 71 75 74, Marjet Van Der Graaff (Ned) 71 74 75
221 Soo Young Moon 69 68 84
224 Ellen Smets (Bel) 76 70 78, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 72 73 79
225 Ran Hong 75 69 81
Labels: LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
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