Roundup | Sizzling Pettersen prevails again on LPGA Tour
PATTAYA, Thailand - Suzann Pettersen needed all of her seven-stroke lead - and then some - in the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Tied for the lead with Laura Davies after a three-putt bogey on No. 17, the Norwegian standout made up for all those lost strokes with an eagle on the Pattaya Old Course’s 479-yard, par-5 finishing hole. She hit a 3-wood from 225 yards to 15 feet and made the dramatic putt to beat Davies by a stroke Sunday.
“I think that was the best putt of my life,” said Pettersen, who earned $195,000. “I was just, like, ‘Drop! Drop! Drop! Please drop!’ It was really nice. It would’ve been really disappointing if I let it go away.”
Pettersen’s 1-under 71 left her at 21-under 267 - not the number she had in mind a day earlier after a bogey-free 63 left her seven shots clear at 20 under, but good enough for her second consecutive LPGA Tour victory and third in four weeks.
“It’s been three wins in October, so I can’t complain,” said Pettersen, ranked fourth in the world two years after a ruptured disk threatened her career. “I’ll enjoy a week off, now, and try to sum it up and get ready for the last few.”
Davies, paired with Pettersen, birdied the final two holes for a 65. The 44-year-old English player was trying to win her first LPGA Tour title since 2001. She won a European Tour event in Austria last month for her 68th worldwide victory.
“At the moment, I’m really disappointed, but overall, I’m really, really pleased,” Davies said. “I played well this week. I putted well. I’ve driven it magnificently. Overall, I go away from here having great memories, but I’m very disappointed because I wanted to win.”
Paula Creamer shot her third consecutive 66 to finish third at 18 under.
Jimin Kang (71), a graduate of King’s High School in Shoreline, tied for 44th.
Other tournaments
• Just when it looked as if Daniel Chopra would roll to his first PGA Tour win, things began to fall apart. Shigeki Maruyama and Fredrik Jacobson were happy to take advantage. Maruyama holed out from the sand for an eagle at the par-5 16th to get into a three-way tie for the lead, Jacobson moved steadily up the leaderboard all day and Chopra unraveled on the back nine at the Ginn sur Mer Classic - setting the stage for a potentially wild finish this morning at Tesoro Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Play was suspended for the day by darkness with Maruyama, Jacobson and Chopra all at 18 under, two shots ahead of clubhouse leader Dicky Pride. The final round will resume today at 5 a.m. Pacific time, with $810,000 going to the winner.
Michael Putnam (77) of University Place is tied for 45th and Jeff Gove (74) of Seattle is tied for 55th.
• Jim Thorpe successfully defended his title in the Charles Schwab Championship, making birdies on the final four holes in Sonoma, Calif., to win the 50-and-older Champions Tour’s season-ending event for the third time in five years.
Thorpe, 58, shot a 6-under 66 to finish at 20-under 268, three strokes ahead of Denis Watson (70) and Fred Funk (66). Thorpe has 13 Champions Tour wins.
• France’s Gregory Bourdy won the Mallorca Classic for his first European Tour title, closing with a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over England’s Sam Little (67). Bourdy had a 12-under 268 total.
• Marc Turnesa, 29, won the Miccosukee Championship in Miami for his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with a 1-under 70 for a one-stroke victory over David Mathis (64) and Jon Mills (70) in the final full-field event of the year. Turnesa earned $103,500 to jump from 43rd to 13th on the money list with $235,158, locking up a 2008 PGA Tour card with just the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship left. The final top 25 will earn PGA Tour cards.