RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Sun Young Yoo won the Kraft Nabisco Championship with an 18-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday, earning her first major title after I.K. Kim missed a 1-foot putt on the final hole of regulation.
Yoo won the LPGA Tour’s first major of the season with steady play down the stretch, but she got to make the traditional leap into Poppie’s Pond only after Kim’s miss on the same green minutes earlier.
“She’s a great putter,” Yoo said about Kim. “She usually doesn’t miss that kind of putt, but ... in sports, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Yoo, who earned her second career LPGA Tour victory, and Kim finished at 9-under par after regulation, but Kim could have all but wrapped up her first major with the tap-in par putt.
Kim might have struck the ball oddly, and it touched the lip of the cup. The gallery gasped, and Kim raised her left hand to her mouth in disbelief.
“I played straight, and it actually just broke to the right, even that short putt,” said Kim, a 23-year-old South Korean who lives in the Los Angeles area. “So it was unfortunate on 18, but ... I feel good about my game. It’s getting better.”
Kim’s miss on the Dinah Shore course was just a turn in a final round in which five players held the lead.
Kim had been the most consistent contender amid momentum swings, going bogey-free through 17 holes.
“On the playoff hole, it’s just hard to kind of focus on what’s going on right now,” Kim said. “Because I was still a little bit bummed [about] what happened on 18, honestly.”
Yoo and Kim played the 18th again in the playoff, and Kim’s drive barely cleared the water, landing in the rough. She left a birdie putt short from the fringe, and Yoo calmly reached the green before making her winning putt.
Yoo, who joined Grace Park as the only South Korean winners in the history of the tournament, seemed a bit reluctant to celebrate after hugging Kim, but she joined her caddie for the leap into Poppie’s Pond. She surpassed $3 million in career earnings with her $300,000 share of the $2 million purse.
“It’s huge. I didn’t think about winning today,” said Yoo, who began the final round in a five-way tie for fourth. “I didn’t want to let myself down, but I think I did better than what I was expecting.”
Kim and Yoo shot 69 in the final round.
Top-ranked Yani Tseng finished third at 8-under with a disappointing final-round 73. Even after blowing a Sunday lead at the Kraft Nabisco for the second consecutive year, the Taiwanese player had a chance to join the playoff on the 18th, but pushed a long birdie putt wide by an inch.
Kim had been incredibly steady until her miss, making a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th and a 20-footer on the 17th to break a three-way tie for the lead. Kim comfortably reached the green on the 18th and barely missed a long birdie putt.
Kim needed only a tap to preserve her lead with Tseng one stroke back on the 18th fairway. Kim lined up over it patiently, but somehow missed the shot.
She tapped in for a bogey that dropped her into a tie with Yoo, and Kim raised both hands to her ears as she walked to the scorers’ tent.
Tseng then barely missed her tying putt, leaving her flat on her back in frustration - but even the world’s best player was thinking about Kim.
“I feel so bad for her,” Tseng said. “I wish she had made it.”
Defending champion Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) closed strong with a 66 to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place with Amy Yang and late leaders Karin Sjodin - who shot a 74 after entering the final round even with Tseng and leading at the turn - and Hee Kyung Seo, who had a three-stroke lead on the back nine before bogeying her final four holes.
Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) shot 76 and finished tied for 75th at 8-over.
Yoo had never finished higher than seventh in a major, and she began the final round three strokes off the lead. She bounced back from two early bogeys with three birdies in five holes down the stretch, finishing with three consecutive pars - and after Kim’s miss, seized an unlikely opportunity to win.
PGA TOUR
Mahan wins Houston Open
HUMBLE, Texas - Hunter Mahan shot a 1-under-par 71 Sunday to win the Houston Open, edging Carl Pettersson by one stroke.
Mahan, who won the Match Play Championship in February, is the first two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year. The victory, worth $1.08 million, moved Mahan to No. 4 in the world rankings, the first time he’s been the highest-ranked American.
Pettersson (71) finished as the runner-up for the second time this year, earning $648,000. Third-round leader Louis Oosthuizen (75) was another shot back at 14-under. Mahan began the day two shots behind Oosthuizen, who lost the lead with two double bogeys on his front nine.
Mahan, 29, earned his fifth career victory. He has six top-25 finishes in seven starts this year.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson (71), Keegan Bradley (71), Brian Davis (74) and Jeff Overton (68) all finished 12-under.
Bryce Molder (Conway) shot 71 to finish tied for 18th at 8 under, earning $84,000.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Olesen wins Sicilian Open
SCIACCA, Sicily - Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark shot a 69 to win the Sicilian Open by one shot Sunday, holding off England’s Chris Wood who equaled the course record with an 8-under-par 64.
Olesen made six birdies to finish at 15-under 273 at Verdura Golf and Spa Resort for his first career victory on the European Tour.
Wood picked up five shots in his first five holes - including an eagle on the par-5 fourth - and tied for the lead when Olesen bogeyed after hitting a wild approach shot to the 13th green. But the 22-year-old Olesen, who led by three shots to start the round, recovered with a birdie on No. 14 and finished with four consecutive pars.
Former PGA Championship winner Rich Beem finished tied at 11th for 280, along with John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) and six others. Daly shot 70, good for $20,401 in U.S. dollars.
Leaderboard LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship At Mission Hills Country Club, Dinah Shore Tournament Course Par 72, 6,738 yards Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Final round (x-won on first playoff hole)
x-Sun Young Yoo .....69-69-72-69-279
I.K. Kim ....................70-70-70-69-279
Yani Tseng ................68-68-71-73-280
Stacy Lewis ...........74-71-70-66-281 - Complete results, 5C
Sports, Pages 13 on 04/02/2012