Lee wins shortened LPGA event

Lee wins shortened LPGA event










The Sports Xchange May 26, 2013 9:30 PMThe SportsXchange



Ilhee Lee captured the wet and shortened Bahamas LPGA Classic by firing a 5-under-par 42 over 12 holes on Sunday, giving her a two-shot victory over Irene Cho.

She finished the event in Paradise Island, Bahamas, with a 36-hole total of 11-under 126 for her first tournament victory of the year.

"I can't believe it right now," said Lee. "It feels amazing. This is the best day in my life. I'm so happy right now."

Heavy rain had caused the event to be shorted to 36 holes, the fewest number of holes required for the event to be considered official.

Thursday's play was canceled, and players played 12 holes Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The final round at the Ocean Club featured strong winds at the end of the day, and it ended in a downpour.

Work by the golf course staff from Wednesday through Saturday morning resulted in 45 million gallons of rain water being pumped off the tournament course.

Every player started on No. 10 Sunday, then moved around the course. The par-5 18th hole was used for the first time in the tournament, and the fourth hole was eliminated after being used the previous two days.

Lee, whose best finish this year had been a tie for third at Kingsmill, birdied her first three holes Sunday to catch Paola Moreno at 9-under and tie for the lead.

"In the morning, my goal was just pars," Lee said. "I made long putts first hole, the second hole, third hole, birdies, and then I was thinking maybe it's close. So I felt comfortable with the wind today. I think the wind helped me today."

Lee took the lead by herself with a birdie on the 14th hole and added another birdie before finishing her bogey-free round.

She earned $195,000 for the victory.

Cho birdied three of the last five holes for a 7-under 40, which was the best round of the tournament. Cho had an eagle at the 11th hole, and, two holes later, she saved par after hitting shot onto the sandy beach.

"I'm very proud of Ilhee," Cho said. "She played hard. I'm just thankful we got in all 36 holes, and here's to next week.

"I wish we got to see the rest of the golf course because it's really, really pretty, and it's a great look out on the ocean. But kudos to the maintenance crew for having us finish on hole 18, which is only the second time I've played it."

Cho finished ahead of third-place Anna Nordqvist by a stroke.

Nordqvist had a final-round 2-under 45 to finish at 8-under, one shot ahead of a five players: Paul Creamer, Mika Miyazato, Karine Icher, Mindy Kim and Cristie Kerr.

Senior PGA Championship: Sunday notebook

Senior PGA Championship: Sunday notebook












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Kohki Odoki received the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy from PGA President Ted Bishop.(Montana Pritchard/The PGA of America)

PGA.COM May 26, 2013 9:52 PM


By The PGA of America

ST. LOUIS -- With his victory today in the 74th Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, Kohki Idoki:

--Gets his name inscribed on the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy, awarded to the winner of the most historic and prestigious event in senior golf Earns a Lifetime Exemption into the Senior PGA Championship --Receives an Exemption into the 2013 PGA Championship, Aug. 8-11 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. --Gains an Exemption into the 2013 Senior British Open --Gains an Exemption into the 2013 U.S. Senior Open --Claims his first major championship on the Champions Tour --Has a one-year calendar exemption on the Champions Tour

KOHKI'S FIRSTS: In his first-ever visit to the United States, Kohki Idoki becomes the first Asian-born male to win the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid. Y.E. Yang became the first Asian-born male to win a major championship when he captured the 2009 PGA Championship.

Idoki is the second consecutive international player to win the Senior PGA Championship (Roger Chapman of England last year)

Statistically, Idoki led this week in Putts Per Greens in Regulation, and tied for first in Birdies (19) and Total Putts (108). He also tied Mark O'Meara for the second low round of the Championship, with a closing 65.

Idoki gained entry into the Championship as one of the top four players from the 2012 Japanese Seniors Tour Order of Merit.

MORE ON IDOKI: Idoki's 65 is the second-best final-round score by a Champion - Allen Doyle closed with 64 to win the 1999 Senior PGA Championship. He improved his score each day here at Bellerive, from 71 to 69 to 68 to 65.

RUTLEDGE FIRES 64, SETS CHAMPIONSHIP MARK: Canadian Jim Rutledge shot the low score of the Championship today, with a bogey-free, 7-under-par 64. Rutledge played the front nine in 5 under par, then added birdies on Nos. 14 and 17.

The competitive course record at Bellerive Country Club belongs to Jim Furyk, who shot 62 in the second round of the 2008 BMW Championship, when the course played to a par of 70.

"I got off to a good start and I think that that was a key to a good day," said Rutledge, whose wife, Jill, caddies for him. "We knew that we had a good score out there, because we put together some good stretches of holes. We just hadn't put it all together at once. But today was the day."

Rutledge had 11 one-putts for the round and vaulted 30 spots on the scoreboard. He finished the Championship tied for sixth place, at 6-under-par 278.

TOP 15 AND TIES QUALIFY FOR 2014: One of the criteria to be eligible to compete in the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid is being among the low 15 finishers, and ties, in the preceding Senior PGA Championship. So, based on their finishing scores today, the following players have gained a spot in the 2014 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, to be held May 22-25 at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich.:


Kohki Idoki Jay Haas Kenny Perry Mark O'Meara Kiyoshi Murato Jim Rutledge Kirk Triplett Duffy Waldorf Rod Spittle Russ Cochran Dan Forsman Peter Senior Bart Bryant Bernhard Langer Joel Edwards Tommy Armour III Steve Pate Fred Funk

COSTON, MIELKE SHARE LOW PGA CLUB PROFESSIONAL HONORS: Mark Mielke of East Norwich, N.Y., birdied No. 18 today to tie Jeff Coston of Blaine, Wash., for low PGA Club Professional honors. Both finished at even-par 284, as Coston closed with 72 and Mielke with 73. They tied for 28th place. This is the second time that Coston has finished as the Low PGA Club Professional in this Championship (2007).

Sonny Skinner of Sylvester, Ga., who almost holed out of a greenside bunker for birdie on the 18th that would have matched Coston and Mielke, tied with Don Berry of Rogers, Minn., at 285. St. Louis native Bob Gaus shot 73 today and tied for 59th.

BY THE NUMBERS ... ONE LAST TIME: 4: par-5 hole at Bellerive that played the easiest for the Championship, with a 4.686 stroke average 6: par-3 hole at Bellerive that played the most difficult for the Championship, with a 3.486 stroke average 6: number of birdies made today by Kohki Idoki, the 74th Senior PGA Champion 7: number of strokes Idoki made up today on third-round leader Kenny Perry 10: number of one-putt greens today for Idoki 26: number of putts taken today by Idoki 38: score for Kenny Perry on the back nine today, as he lost the lead in the Senior PGA Championship 55: number of consecutive holes Bernhard Langer played without a bogey (from his final hole in Round 1 through the completion of his round today) 64: low 18-hole round of the Championship, shot today by Jim Rutledge 65: second-best 18-hole round of the Championship, shot today by Idoki, and Mark O'Meara, who was fourth 67: score posted by Bernhard Langer each of the last three rounds, to climb back from 8-over par after the first round to 4-under par for the Championship 273: winning score for Kohki Idoki

FOUR EAGLES TODAY: The four eagles recorded today at Bellerive brought to 15 the total number made during the Championship, with the most eagles made on the par-5 17th hole (7).

HAAS TOPS AMONG SIX SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONS: He may not have won his third Senior PGA Championship, but Jay Haas does have the distinction of finishing with the best score among the six Senior PGA Champions who played through the weekend.

The 72-hole scores of Senior PGA Champions, and where they placed in the Championship: Jay Haas (9-under-par 275, tied for second) Michael Allen (2-under-par 282, tied for 20th) Tom Watson (even-par 284, tied for 28th) Hale Irwin (5-over-par 28, tied for 56th) Defending Champion Roger Chapman (7-over-par 291, tied for 64th) John Jacobs (10-over par 294, 75th place)

A FINISHING FOURSOME OF PGA CHAMPIONS: Jeff Sluman (1988 PGA Champion), Hal Sutton (1983), Bob Tway (1986) and Lanny Wadkins (1977) all completed 72 holes at Bellerive. Sutton and Tway had the best scores of the round (70) but Sluman finished with the lowest 72-hole total of the four. Their results:

Jeff Sluman (71 today for 287 total, tied for 47th) Hal Sutton (70 today for 291 total, tied for 64th) Bob Tway (70 today for 291 total, tied for 64th) Lanny Wadkins (80 today for 299 total, tied for 79th)

The 2013 PGA Championship, the Season's Final Major, will be played Aug. 8-11 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

ALMOST THE SAME EACH DAY: Jeff Sluman and Boonchu Ruangkit finished 72 holes with the same total (287). They also had the same score in Rounds 1 and 4 and virtually had identical scores each day. Their scores per round:

Sluman 75-71-70-71 Ruangkit 75-70-71-71

ALMOST THE SAME AS IN '92: Russ Cochran tied for sixth this week in the Senior PGA Championship at Bellerive. He tied for seventh in the 1992 PGA Championship at Bellerive. Duffy Waldorf tied for ninth in the '92 PGA Championship and tied for sixth today.

SEE YOU IN 2018: The 100th PGA Championship will be played in the summer of 2018 here at Bellerive Country Club. Nick Price won the first PGA Championship contested at Bellerive, in 1992.

A Lesson Learned: Long and short of it

A Lesson Learned: Long and short of it











Jeff Coston, PGA May 27, 2013 12:04 AM



Another Senior PGA Championship in the books and what a great week it's been. I'm so grateful to the PGA of America for the first-rate championship it conducts and for the opportunity they provide club professionals like myself to play and test our game against the best players in the world.

For this week's "A Lesson Learned" I'd take away two important points that meant so much to me this week and will certainly help every golfer.

1.) When you come to a major championship, every player will tell you that the key to winning is controlling the speed of your putts. To that I say..."Yes!" The greens you putt on at home may not roll at the same championship speeds that Bellerive had this week, but whatever the speed they roll, you have to be confident that any putt you take will either go in or leave you with a comfortable (and hopefully tap-in) distance.
I see far too many amateur players tie themselves up in knots trying to read the line and not respect the speed of the putt enough. My guess is, the average energy and thought to each putt by amateur golfers is 80 percent read, 20 percent speed. I say it should be the reveresed. If you concentrate more on the right speed, you'll be a better putter. Speed dictates line anyways and if you have the right speed, you can trust more. The reason people three putt is rarely because they have a bad line, it's because they did not have the right speed.

2.) Another golf maxim that I think is overstated is that "golfers spend too much time on the range working on driving" (and thus, by default, not enough on their short game.) Of course your short game is critical but so is your driving. It's no secret in golf: If you cant drive, you wont' have any fun playing golf. So my tip on driving is - curve your golf ball. Either left to right or right to left, know your shot pattern and play to that. None other than Jack Nicklaus told me that a straight was an accident.

These two areas of my game are two that I often focus on when I know I need to play my best. If I'm confident with my driver and I'm confident on the greens, I know I'm going to have a good round. I hope that's that case for you too.

Jeff Coston is the PGA Teaching Professional at Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Wash. Coston has played on the PGA Tour, played in 3 PGA Championships, 3 Senior PGA Championships and one U.S. Open. You can learn more about Jeff Coston at hiswebsite.