Kraft Nabisco Championship - Final Round

Yani Tseng played the first three holes in -3 to take the lead and held on to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship.  It is the third career victory for the 21-year-old from Taiwan and her second major title.  Suzann Pettersen finished in second place, one shot behind at -12 while Song-Hee Kim finished third at -9, down by four.

Tseng started the day down by one to Karen Stupples and tied with Pettersen.  Playing in the final group, the threesome started shuffling at 2 - Yani chipped in for eagle to go -11, Karen birdied to also reach -11 and Suzann birdied to stay within one.  Tseng birdied 3 from 12 feet to take the solo lead for the first time this week.  Stupples bogeyed 4 to give Yani a two-shot lead.

Elsewhere, Lorena Ochoa wasn't able to get rolling until back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 brought her to -8.  A missed five-footer for par at 13 ended her hopes.  With Kim being the only other player to stay within five shots, the tournament turned into a four-horse race between her and the final group.  Stupples faded quickly - a double-bogey at 6 put her four shots back.  An 18-footer for birdie at 9 didn't drop and she missed an eight-foot par putt at 10.  A birdie at 11 boosted her chances momentarily but a shabby double-bogey at 15 (her approach was short, the third went over the green, two putts) cemented her fate.  Her finding the water off the 18^th tee for a third double was just cruel.  Song-Hee got as low as -9 when she made birdie at 11 from eight feet.  A bogey at 13 was offset by a brilliant approach at 15, the ball stopping a foot from the hole and moved her back to -9 where she finished.

So it came between two good friends to decide the year's first major.  Pettersen bogeyed 6 to give Tseng a three-shot lead.  At 8, Yani drilled one home from 40 feet to open it up by four.  A couple of wayward drives at 9 and 10 opened the door but Tseng saved par each time.  A birdie by Pettersen at the par-5 11^th was negated by Tseng's great bunker shot to set up the same.  At 12, Yani's first putt came up four feet short and she missed from there to give up a shot.  13 turned out to be a big moment - Tseng recovered from the right rough but had a six-footer left for par while Pettersen had eight feet for birdie.  Instead of a two-shot swing, Suzann got nothing - she missed her birdie try left while Yani canned her par putt.  Tseng was still up by three with five holes remaining.

The next three holes were almost carbon copies.  Each time Pettersen landed her approach 10-15 feet away while Tseng, apparently playing conservatively, gave herself 30 feet or more on every first putt.  Each time Yani would lag to within three feet and save par, and each time Suzann would just miss her birdie attempt - except at 16, where she finally dropped it to draw within two.  Pettersen tried to throw it away with her tee shot at 17, flying it way right and down the hill.  She chipped up nicely to six feet and drained the par save to keep her hopes alive.

Could somebody in the final group make eagle at the last for the second straight year?  Pettersen drove perfectly.  Tseng found the deep rough to the right so she layed up near the end of the fairway.  Going for it from 205 yards, Suzann missed a little to the right of the green but the ball did not kick further right as it often does and stayed dry.  Yani played her third to about 20 feet.  Chipping up the hill, Pettersen's eagle attempt stopped at the edge of the hole.  With two putts to win, Tseng lagged to about two inches and tapped in to start the celebration.

Pretty good duel there, although Pettersen let quite a few opportunities pass by.  Since she couldn't put any real pressure on until the very end, she allowed Tseng to play safe down the stretch which removed some of the drama.  In the end though, it was a close finish and a deserving victory for one of the world's top players.  Congratulations Yani!