Jimin Kang wins her second LPGA event at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia
Recap
South Korea’s Jimin Kang won the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia making the victory her second win on the LPGA tour. Kang was nine under in the three day tournament with rounds of 70, 69 and 65 on the 6,208-yard course at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
50-year-old veteran and hall-of-famer, Juli Inkster, finished one stroke back of Kang after an upsetting bogey on the final hole.
Kang spoke of her solid final round that included a birdie on the 18th saying, “that’s not that easy to do for me. I played solid. I hit a lot of putts. As you guys can tell, my score was good enough to win a tournament, and you know, it’s been a while. So
I’m trying to soak this in.
Kang seems to have a disposition to coming from behind, her only other win back in 2005 at the LPGA Corning Classic also saw her steal a win with a final round 62. Kang, elated and relieved, told reporters, “All I know is it’s been five years. It’s priceless.”
Inkster birdied 15 through 17 to take a share of the lead but was unable to make par on the par-four 18th. If Inkster had won she would have become the oldest player to win on the LPGA tour surpassing Beth Daniel who won the 2003 Canadian Women’s Open at
46 years and 8 months.
Inkster spoke of her pushed approach to the 18th green saying, “When I miss it, I miss it right. It was a three-quarter shot and I left it out there. I played well all day."
Kang after some confusion about where she stood relative to Inkster glanced at the scoreboard on the 18th and realized that she had to make birdie to give herself a chance.
“I came too far to just make par and stay in second place. So at that point I wasn’t nervous at all, which I was impressed with myself. And yeah, putt rolled in.”
Other notables for the tournament include Christie Kerr, finishing three-under for the tournament and now set to overtake present world number one Ai Miyazato who tied for 28th at 2 over.
Change in top spot
Kerr spoke of her expected jump to world number one saying, “It would feel great to take over number one this week. It’s been so close the last four tournaments. It came down to one putt in Alabama and last week I had a great finish, but just wasn’t close
enough. I’ve been thinking about this race all year."
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