Queensland’s Karrie Webb fired a final round of 67 to finish in tie for 11th at the Honda LPGA Thailand, which was eventually won by Amy Yang.
The South Korean who had finished in the top-5 in three of the last four tournaments she has played in dating back to 2014 prior to this week, finally was able to break through for her second LPGA title.
Battling Rolex World No. 3 Stacy Lewis all weekend, Yang (-15) won the 2015 Honda LPGA Thailand by two strokes over fellow compatriot Mirim Lee, Taiwan’s Yani Tseng and Lewis who each finished at 13-under for the tournament.
After the final putt dropped, she was shocked. “I don’t know what just happened, Yang said with a smile. “I still can’t believe I did it today.”
Yang and Lewis were tied atop the leaderboard heading into a No. 15 and after Lewis made double bogey and Yang made birdie, there was a three shot Swing and Yang never looked back despite not trying to think about it.
“I still didn’t want to decide that because we had three more holes to go and they’re not easy,” Yang said when asked if she thought she had a chance at that point. “So I just kept focusing.”
Yang took an extended break this offseason to rest both her mind and her body. She said she was tired of what she was doing. During that break, she started to get her drive back and her desire to play golf again.
“Over the winter while I’m resting I wanted to play more golf,” Yang said earlier this week. “Finally my mind changed and I wanted to go back there and play in contention if I can.”
She found herself back in contention again and this time came out on top, winning her second career tournament and first since the 2013 LPGA KEB HanaBank.
For Webb, it was a solid week with rounds of 72, 69, 71 and 67, she finished at nine-under-par and took home a cheque for almost US$28,000.
Unfortunately for her fellow Queenslander, Katherine Kirk, she didn’t have a great week finishing 67th at 14-over-par.
The LPGA now travels to Singapore for the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.