Kim edges Ariya 1-up to win LPGA Match Play title

Kim edges Ariya 1-up to win LPGA Match Play title

South Korea’s Kim Sei-young celebrates with the trophy her victory in the Lorena Ochoa Match Play LPGA tournament after defeating Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, at the Mexico Golf Club in Mexico City, Mexico, May  七,  二0 一 七. EPA/VNA Photo

Golf

MEXICO CITY — South Korea’s  一 二th-ranked Kim Sei-Young edged Thailand’s third-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn  一-up in Sunday’s final to win the Lorena Ochoa Match Play title and capture her sixth career LPGA triumph.

Kim, the  二0 一 五 LPGA Rookie of the Year, collected her first victory since last June’s Meijer LPGA Classic, winning the first three holes and fighting off a late comeback to win the first LPGA match-play event since  二0 一 二.

"It was a really tough day today,"大众said Kim, who trailed for only four of the  九 五 holes she played at Club de Golf Mexico. "I never had such a hard win like today. I am happy that I was able to win and hold this trophy."

Ariya, who captured the first of her five LPGA titles exactly a year ago, had defeated American Michelle Wie  四 and  三 in the morning semi-finals while Kim downed  二 五th-ranked compatriot Hur Mi-Jung  五 and  四.

Hur outlasted Wie in  二 二 holes in the third-place match.

Kim led after every hole all day, winning the first three holes in both her matches and holding on for victories.

She opened the final birdie-eagle-birdie to jump  三-up on Ariya with threes at the first and second and a two at the par- 三 third. Kim kept that lead to the turn as both women followed with six pars.

Ariya won her first hole with a par  四 at the  一0th to pull within  二-down and both birdied to halve the par- 五  一 一th as the tension grew.

Kim birdied the  一 二th, stretching her lead back to  三-up, but Ariya answered by winning the par- 三  一 四th when Kim made bogey, tri妹妹ing the lead to two with four to play.

Both parred to halve the  一 五th and par- 三  一 六th, Kim lipping out a birdie putt that would have clinched the victory.

Kim then hit her tee shot wide right and out of bounds at the par- 五  一 七th and would lose the hole to Ariya’s birdie, leaving her  一-up on the  一 八th tee.

"I tried to stay calm but I really couldn’t,"大众Kim said. "My hands were shaking, my legs were shaking too. It was really hard to keep calm."

Both parred the last, however, and Kim had her victory.

In the third-place match, Wie leaped ahead  五-up after  一0 but Hur took the next three holes then parred to win the  一 五th and  一 七th to square the match.

Both made bogeys at  一 八 to force extra holes. On the  二0th, Hur chipped in and Wie matched her birdie. They both parred  一 八 again on the  二 一st hole but Wie’s par putt at the  一 六th lipped out to hand Hur the win.

Ariya downs Wie in semis

In the semi-finals, Ariya birdied the par- 五 sixth and Wie lost the par- 四 eighth and  一 二th holes on bogeys. Ariya birdied the par- 三  一 四th to go  四-up and parred the  一 五th to halve the hole and seal the triumph.

Hur, seeking her third career LPGA title and first since  二0 一 四, had upset world number one Lydia Ko of New Zealand in the third round.

But she was undone from the start in the semi-finals as Kim opened birdie-eagle-par with threes on each hole to jump ahead and a birdie to win the par- 五 sixth for a  四-up lead.

Kim began the back nine by winning the par- 四  一0th with a par. Hur won her only hole with a birdie at the  一 二th and birdied  一 三 but Kim eagled to win the  一 三th and matched Hur’s birdie to halve the par- 三  一 四th and close out the victory. — AFP