Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia - Epilogue
by hound dog on Oct 17, 2011 5:03 AM PDT
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Na Yeon Choi was #6 in my rankings coming into this weekend despite not having registered a single victory in 2011. For the second straight week, she had to battle the hottest player in the world for the victory but this time Na Yeon came out on top. It was her fifth career victory, all of which have come over the last 25 months.
Choi began the final round with a one-shot lead over Brittany Lang, two shots over Azahara Munoz, and four shots over Yani Tseng, Se Ri Pak and Stacy Lewis. A double-bogey at 2 was a most auspicious beginning for NYC, dropping her to -10 and behind Lang. Brittany birdied 3 to take a two-shot lead. Choi cut the lead in half with a birdie at 6, and then another at 8 tied them at -12. Meanwhile, Tseng had birdied 6 and 7 to reach -11. Remaining the same through the turn, Yani birdied 11 to create a three-way tie at -12. Lang birdied 11 to retake the solo lead. Choi responded with birdie at 12 to get tied at -13. Brittany suddenly collapsed - bogeys at 13 and 14, birdie at 15 but a double at 16 and a final bogey at 18 relegated her to -9 and a tie for fifth. As Lang fell out, Munoz climbed back in - birdies at 13 and 14 brought Aza to within one of the lead. Tseng birdied 15 to tie Choi at -13. Na Yeon birdied 15 as well to go back in front. Yani birdied 16 to tie them again at -14. Munoz also birdied 16 to momentarily hang with them but she wound up bogeying 18 and finished in solo third. After Tseng only parred 17, Choi birdied it to take the lead again. Yani also parred 18, leaving NYC to need only a par for the win. Which she did.
I didn't see the coverage (9:30-11:30 on a Sunday night? Puh-lease!) but it must have been painful to watch Brittany Lang's final six holes. This was her best chance to win in at least two years (her runner-up at this year's British was four shots behind Tseng) and we continue to wait for her first LPGA victory. I still think she's gonna get one sometime.
Good to see last year's Rookie of the Year have a good finish. Munoz had only registered one Top 10 and one other Top 20 this year before yesterday's third-place finish. It was the best showing of her LPGA career, beating out a T4 at last year's Bell Micro Classic. It's always good to see Se Ri Pak finish in the Top 5 - the solo fourth was her second such finish of the season (T5 at State Farm).
The Big Surprise Award gets split two ways this week. Christel Boeljon finished T9, the rookie's first career Top 10. Amanda Blumenherst also finished T9, her first Top 10 since last year Sybase Match Play Championship and her first Top 10 in a stroke-play event since last year's Tres Marias Championship.
There isn't a clear-cut choice for Big Disappointment so I'm going to pass on designating one. But I am very disappointed in the performance of Tiffany Joh. With a great opportunity to gain some ROY points on Hee Kyung Seo, Tiffany shot 80 on Thursday and finished tied for last (T71 +25). With only four events left to play, Seo has a stranglehold on the rookie trophy.
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Ryann O'Toole
I agree with the Tiffany Joh pick, I would also like to add Ryan O’Toole for the same reasons. Ryann, currently slipping to #44 on the money list, might still need a few more dollars in order to finish in the top 48 and get into Sybase.
A couple of more notes
On the West Coast, the broadcast was 6:30-8:30, which was quite reasonable, especially since neither the football nor baseball games were competitive. The Australian announcers were very dramatic.
As coverage started, Brittany Lang was out of contention quickly. After the second of her back-to-back bogeys (at the 14th), she was already 2 shots behind and in 4th place. It was her 3rd Top 5 since the British Open.
Azahara Munoz was in contention until the 17th and playing well. She jumped up 12 spots on the Rolex Rankings to #39.
On the 18th, one hole ahead of NYC, Yani Tseng was the only member of her group with a realistic birdie putt. Shockingly, she left it at least a foot short.
Na Yeon Choi was both good and lucky. On the 16th, her fairway shot flirted with the water hazard, maybe another 2 club lengths and she would’ve been wet. On the 17th, a par 3, she hit a fine pin-high tee shot and left herself a makeable putt, which she drained. On the 18th, she put herself in 3-putt range and then made a nervy 2 putt.
An amusing minor note about the telecast: there was a commercial that was run several times, featuring Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis for the Sime Darby tournament itself. During the last 10 seconds, several LPGA golfers were shown for a second or two—it was nearly subliminal. The last golfer shown was Lexi Thompson, which is really odd because she wasn’t playing there and isn’t an LPGA member yet. I paid careful attention the 2nd time the commercial was aired, because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
Coverage actually began at 10 PM Eastern on Sunday
The PGA playoff backed everything up, including Nationwide and LPGA. I attended the Nationwide event, which apparently maintained its 2 hour block despite taped coverage. Golf Central was shortened to about 15 minutes and the Champions Tour ran from 8-10. The LPGA coverage was chopped about 20 minutes, ending at about 11:40. Early in the coverage Lang was 2 shots clear then they sliced a huge portion and suddenly she trailed. So it wasn’t as painful for a Lang supporter as it could have been.
BTW, Lexi followed her brother Nicholas Thompson all week at the Nationwide event in Miami. She accepted congratulations and stopped to be photographed with fans countless times per round. Her family was also in the gallery and chatted readily with spectators.
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