South Korean Stumbles to 8th As Ochoa Surges to 2nd, Nordqvist Wins

By Matt Flemming
Staff Reporter

Anna Nordqvist won the LPGA Tour Championship, Monday, but the big winner at the Houstonian Golf and Country Club was Lorena Ochoa, who came from behind to win her fourth-consecutive player of the year award, edging South Korean Shin Ji-yai by a single point.

Shin held an eight-point lead over Ochoa in the standings entering the tournament near Houston, Texas. She needed a birdie on the 18th hole to finish seventh and clinch the award but her chip fell short and she finished in a tie for eighth at 6-under.

Nordqvist shot a 65 in the final round and finished at 13 under par. Ochoa was the runner-up at 11-under.

Shin could have become the first golfer to win both the rookie and player of the year awards since Nancy Lopez accomplished the feat in 1978.

``I learned a lot from this year,'' she said, according to the Associated Press. ``I need more focus, concentration and everything. I really made my goals. I just missed player of the year, but I still had a good year.''

Shin entered Monday with two holes left to play in the second round and began the final round at 7-under, one behind Kristy McPherson.

Heavy rain over the weekend caused organizers to shorten the tournament from 72 to 54 holes.

But Shin started the round with a bogey and watched as several players, including Ochoa, climbed ahead of her on the leaderboard as she failed to make birdies. On a day where a round of even par would have been good enough to secure the award, she shot a 1-over 73.

Shin looked to have caught a break when Ochoa bogeyed 17. But when Shin bogeyed the same hole shortly after, she needed to birdie the final hole to secure the title.

Her approach was short of the green and her chip missed by just inches, and the par meant she fell into a tie for eighth. Shin fought back tears as she left the course and later repeatedly blamed her poor putting for costing her the award.

``Today my putter was so bad,'' she said, according to the LPGA Web site. ``No luck today.

``I had lots of chances for birdies but everything missed.''

Shin admitted she was watching the leaderboard and knew what she had to do.

``I (was) nervous (on the) last few holes. But I tried to just focus on my game.''

Ochoa also clinched the Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average. Shin needed to beat Ochoa by four strokes to prevent the Mexican from winning the trophy for the fourth straight time.

``I always say that I want to stay at the top as long as I continue playing, so this is just a great year for me,'' said Ochoa.
``It's been tough in many different ways, but the important thing is I'm at the top.''

Choi Na-yeon had the low round of the day with an 8-under to finish tied for third at 10-under.Park Hee-young and Kim Song-hee both finished in a tie for fifth at 7-under.

mattflemming@koreatimes.co.kr