In-Kyung Kim wins Lorena Ochoa Invitational
South Korean golfer In-Kyung Kim won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday at the Guadalajara Country Club in Mexico. Carding an 8-under 64, Kim finished three strokes ahead of Suzann Pettersen. Her win on Sunday awarded Kim her third LPGA Tour title.
Kim won the 2008 Longs Drug Challenge and the 2009 State Farm Classic. Being winless this year so far, this win really gave a good finish to the closing year.
Kim played the front nine holes in 6-under 30 and posted three birdies and a bogey on the final nine. Overall, the charismatic golfer had nine birdies. Not only did she win the tournament, but also set a tournament record with the 19 under total she achieved.
Kim earned US$ 220,000 for her victory on Sunday and gave it all away for charity. The altruistic golfer gave half the sum to an American Organization and half to the Lorena Ochoa Foundation.
In-Kyung was very pleased with her victory and didn’t know how to take in such amazing news. She said it’s been a great week on the course and that she gave some good performance. Kim did agree that on Saturday she didn’t play the way she wanted to but
her game today really lifted her to the top.
Kim has struggled a lot to be where she is. Going to America was one of her main goals and her road to her destination was definitely not easy.
"Before I came to the U.S., I wanted to come to the U.S., but I know it's tough and my parents are working really hard at the time when I was 16," Kim said. "And we weren't really rich, but it takes a lot of money to send me to the U.S. and go to school
and all that. But there is one person who helped my parents, and if he didn't help my parents, or if he didn't help me coming to the U.S., I wouldn't really be here. Everyone needs help. I think that's why I'm all about that."
Pettersen, who was the runner up, actually went into the final round ahead of others but didn’t stay at the top until the end of the tournament. It was evident how disturbed Pettersen was about her recurring second place finishes. She said she hates being
the runner up after struggling throughout the tournament. One shot is all it takes to mess up something one has been working on since days. Most probably the ‘one shot’ that Suzann talked about was the double bogey she made on the fourth hole. Pettersen posted
a 68 in the final round.
Even though Kim was the winner of the tournament, she didn’t post the lowest score during the final round. The course record of 63 was established by a former Ochoa Invitational winner, Angela Stanford. She said she really likes playing on this course and
it’s a good set up for her. Stanford said the key is to place the ball in the right place and hit it hardly.
Karine Icher hoisted up to third place as she finished fifteen under for the tournament. Her eagle on the par-5
18th hole really put Icher near the top of the leader board. Cristie Kerr who is really hoping for the Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy for season long scoring average, tied at fourth place. Kerr tied with Ai Miyazato who finished
at 13 under along with U.S Women’s Open Champion Paula Creamer.
The host of the show, Lorena Ochoa, shot a 74 in the final round and tied for 25th place. Ochoa was playing her first LPGA sanctioned event ever since her retirement in April 2009. She said that even though she wanted to play better, she enjoyed
herself on the course this weekend.
This was the last event of the LPGA season before the Tour Championship. The finale of the LPGA 2010 season will be held in Florida in December.
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