Hye Jin Choi shaves 8 strokes off final day to tie for third at LPGA Shanghai, her first career win
Choi Hye-jin (Lotte)
Posted her best finish of the season by tying for third place in the final round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai
($2.1 million purse) on the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour.
Choi carded eight birdies for an 8-under 64 on the final day at the par-72 Qizhong Garden Golf Course in Shanghai, China.
Her final total of 13-under-par 275 put her in a tie for third place. It was Choi’s second top-10 finish of the
season, following a tie for eighth at the Meyer Classic.
After an up-and-down first three rounds with three birdies and three bogeys, Choi had a clean final round.
Starting on the front nine, Choi went par through seven holes with just one birdie. However, from the
eighth hole (par-4) onward, she showed great focus and cut her score down to one under par.
After four straight birdies from the eighth to the 11th (par-3), Choi took a breather and birdied the 13th
(par-5). Two strokes behind the co-leaders, Choi birdied the 17th (par-5) and 18th (par-4) on the back
nine to move to the top of the leaderboard.
By finishing first, Choi was in position to claim her first LPGA Tour victory, depending on how the other players performed.
Going into the final round
Choi was tied for the lead with World No. 1 Lilia Boo and Eunjae In (USA), Liu Yu (China), Ariya Jutanugarn
(Thailand), and Esther Henselwright (Germany).
However, after Boo and Yin birdied the 17th hole side-by-side, Choi dropped from the lead to tied for third.
Boo and In were unable to cut the deficit on the 18th hole and finished the final round tied for the lead. A
first overtime playoff ensued to determine the winner.
Yin, a Chinese-American, sank her birdie putt to win her first LPGA Tour title in her parents’ country.
Im Hyang Lee (Volvik)
Who was tied for fourth the day before, dropped one shot with three birdies and two bogeys to slip to a
tie for 12th at 11-under par 277.
Kim A-rim
(Q CELLS) finished tied for 17th (9-under par 279) and Hae-ran Ha (Daol Financial Group) tied for 21st (8-under par 280).
Daniel Kang (USA)
Who was looking for his third consecutive victory in the event, did not make the cut, finishing tied for 17th (9-under par 279). 19가이드03