MasterCard Classic - Epilogue

Pat Hurst was ranked #71 by my system and #86 by Rolex going into the MasterCard Classic.  Hurst collected only one Top 10 in 2008 - a tie for fifth at this very event - and finished 58^th on the money list, the lowest rank in that category for a full season in her career.  Yesterday's win was her sixth, giving her seven Hall of Fame points and tying her for 12^th place on the active list.  Last but not least, Pat gets this week's Big Surprise Award.

The final round notes at LPGA.com provide more details on the great finish, such as Tseng's three-putt at 18 and Hurst's 10-footer downhill for the winning birdie.

The scoring at Bosque Real was certainly high this week - 74.68 - but it was not out of character for this event.  That number only slightly exceeded last year's 74.59 and came up short of 2005's 74.95.  Only 15 players finished under par while 75 players wound up at +7 or worse.  The round-to-round fluctuations among several players was astounding.  Hee Young Park followed up her Friday 69 with an 87.  Brittany Lincicome's line reads 81-68-76.  Even including the various U.S. Open venues, I don't think the LPGA Tour plays any course with as many opportunities for big numbers as Bosque Real.

The big numbers on Sunday sank my favorite, Grace Park.  While she never got closer than five shots from the lead, Grace climbed as high as T4 and had a great chance to collect her first Top 10 since October 2005.  Three double-bogeys (8, 9 and 11) ruined that opportunity but she rallied to birdie 12 and 13 and the T12 finish was her best since the 2007 Corning Classic.  Se Ri Pak was hanging in there nicely for a Top 10 as well until two double-bogeys (15 and 16) relegated her to a T16.

Katherine Hull gets this week's Big Disappointment.  Where did that 77-76 MC come from?

With apologies to Hull, the most disappointed player has to be Yani Tseng.  I'm not too thrilled about the outcome either - I like Pat Hurst fine but I picked Yani to win and you want to get one of those prognostications right every once in a while.  Tseng has now finished second six times over the last 12 months, twice in a row at the MasterCard and both times losing to players who were frankly, out of her league.  Add in the results of last year's Canadian Open, State Farm Classic and Ginn Open and you'll see Yani rarely has the kind of Sundays that the #2 player in the world usually has.  Now that I look back, she didn't exactly take the bull by the horns in her win at the LPGA Championship either.  She led by one with four holes to play at Bulle Rock and took four playoff holes to dispatch Maria Hjorth (not to dismiss Maria's ability but we're discussing the World's Number Two here).  There is no doubting Yani Tseng's talent but I have plenty of doubt for her psyche.