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Jiyai Shin, the 20-year-old Korean considered by many as a world number one in waiting, won the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore shooting her second successive six-under-par 66 to claim the trophy by two shots from Australia’s Katherine Hull.
The current world number five, 2008 British Open champion and leader of Korea’s golden generation known as the “Dragon Ladies” came from six shots behind at the start of the final day to clinch her fourth official LPGA title and her first since officially becoming a member of the tour with a winning score of 11 under par 277 at the Tanah Merah Country Club.
“I thought I had a chance of finishing in the top 10, not to win. I was very surprised to start with four birdies,” said Shin, who only last month lost her treasured record of never having missed a cut as a professional, but now stands alongside the names of recent HSBC Champions winners Phil Mickelson, Lorena Ochoa and Sergio Garcia.
The girl known in her homeland as the “Final Round Queen” because of her resilience in Sunday play left her veteran Australian caddie Deane Herden shaking his head in disbelief at the way she played over the weekend.
“Unbelievable and she still left a few putts out there too! 12 under is phenomenal stuff. I think she missed two greens over the two days and no bogies. Say no more!” said Herden, whose CV includes a brief stint on Jack Nicklaus’ bag.
“The ball striking was phenomenal. It was pretty flawless. The start we had, birdying the first four holes, was ridiculous. We had the confidence and momentum from there. Coming from behind and having to have to do it - to come from where we were after two days - is the best I’ve ever seen from her,” added Herden, who caddied for Shin last year as she became the first player ever to complete the single-season Grand Slam of Korean Majors.
“I am awestruck. Just for the mental side of it. She’s as cool as a cucumber. It’s almost like she has the perfect head for golf, she’s just so calm and collected,” he said.
Hull, the world number 20 and arguably one of the most improved players over the past six months, was left regretting pulling out the big stick on the 13th hole where she carded a double bogey and surrendered her two-shot overnight lead.
“I made a really bad choice. I actually broke my game plan so I got what I deserved. I decided from the start I’d hit three wood off that tee, I took driver and it was the wrong play. I got too greedy and was over confident,” said Hull, who won the ANZ Masters in her native Queensland in February.
“Hopefully it’ll make me stronger and make me work harder. I’m disappointed I didn’t win, but Jiyai played great; all credit to her. It’s an awesome weekend to go 12 under. The better player won.”
Hull, who also got into the trees on 18 to finally see her winning chance slip away, carded a two-over-par 74 to finish alone in second place. A shot behind her were world number Paula Creamer, 2007 LPGA Rookie of the Year Angela Park and world number six Angela Stanford.
“The ferocity of that battle highlights the quality of Lorena Ochoa’s 11-shot win last year,” said Giles Morgan, HSBC Group Head of Sponsorship.
“Once again we’ve crowned a truly great champion. The world’s local bank has known for some time that experts in Korea have been predicting that Jiyai will become the best player in the world and will have a Hall of Fame career. She still has a long way to go to achieve that, but she’s taken an important step towards it,” he added.
Russy Gulyanamitta (Thailand) 295 (+7) 72, 72, 76, 75
Q: How did your final round go?
A: I had a bad front nine again. I had a double bogey on a par three. Oh my God! I keep making mistakes. Other than that, I kept playing OK. It was a just a couple of bad holes that I shouldn’t have bogeyed. It could have been better.
Q: Overall you played pretty well but which part of your game let you down?
A: My driver caused me a bit of trouble today. It’s been the same through the week. It was the same last week! I’m going to go back and see my coach and hopefully it will get better! But I did manage to just hang in there. It was a great experience to play this week with a tough field. I started with a bad score all the time so I had to hang in there and be more aggressive to come back. It’s been good that I know I can come back and hopefully I can have a better start next time.
Q: What else have you been able to take from this week?
A: I feel very comfortable out here and hopefully I can improve. I didn’t play well but the scores weren’t too bad. Hopefully I can keep going and have a better week.
Q: Did you come into the tournament with any aims or expectations?
A: No. I just hoped to come here and hit the fairways and hit the greens. I don’t really expect that much when you’re lower ranked. You just come and play and have fun! It’s been a great week for the experience and there’s more tournaments coming up so hopefully this will help my game.
Q: Do you have any aims for this season?
A: Yeah. I hope this year I will be in the top 50. That would be good.
Pornanong Phatlum (Thailand) 294 (+6) 75, 73, 73, 73
Q: How did today go?
A: My approach shots were very good today. I made some good putts as well.
I was driving very well off the tee and finding the fairway.
Q: How was it playing with Russy?
A: It was great because we could chat together. We’re both from Thailand and it was just really nice.
Q: Over the four days, how do you think the tournament went for you?
A: I am very happy….it would be better if I can work on some of my game but there’s plenty of time for that. I’m still only 19 so I just have to be patient.
Q: Did you have any aims coming into this tournament?
A: No I didn’t. I just wanted to come here and try my best and play with the best players from all over the world. All the top players come here and I tried to pick up some techniques.
Q: What are your plans for the rest of the season?
A: I only have a conditional status on the LPGA so I just want to do really well on the Futures Tour. Hopefully I can do well there and get some more experience. I’ll need to keep working!
Feng Shanshan (China) 290 (+2) 70, 71, 78, 71
Q: Let’s talk about today’s round. How did it go?
A: I had a good start. I started with three birdies in four holes. Because our group was playing really slow, I tried to speed up a little bit. Maybe I then just lost my temper. I kept missing putts for birdie and then made a three-putt for a bogey. On the last hole, my second shot was by the green and then I managed to three-putt for bogey. I just lost my temper.
Q: So what do you think went wrong?
A: I lost a bit of confidence with my putting stroke. But it’s over now.
Q: How do you feel you played over the whole week?
A: I think I played ‘so-so’. It’s frustrating to finish on the last hole with a bogey.
Q: But do you think you can take a lot of positives out of this week?
A: I can definitely learn from the experience. I met a lot of new people here which was nice. Actually this was my first time to Singapore so I enjoyed it.
Q: What are your expectations for the rest of the year?
A: I don’t really know yet. I’m just going try hard!
