Tuesday, February 20, 2007

SBS Open at Turtle Bay – Final Round


Paula Creamer led virtually wire-to-wire, but withstood a late charge by Julieta Granada to win the SBS Open at Turtle Bay by one stroke. Karrie Webb finished third at -6, three shots back, while Lorena Ochoa, Morgan Pressel and Janice Moodie tied for fourth at -5.

Through seven holes, Creamer was five shots clear of the field. She bogeyed 8 but got the shot back with a birdie at nine. A double-bogey at 11 and another bogey at 13 narrowed the gap to only two. Granada birdied 15 and when she made a 20-footer for birdie at 18, the two were tied with Creamer still playing the 17th. Paula rolled in a 40-foot bomb to regain the lead, then made par on 18 to seal the victory.

Saturday’s windy conditions took a few players out of contention. Only 13 players finished in the red numbers. Sherri Steinhauer was tied for the lead going in, but her 76 put her six shots back. Morgan Pressel and Hee-Won Han each took a 74 to put them out. I’m going to select two Big Surprises for this week – Janice Moodie finished tied for fourth in her first regular event back from maternity leave, and Jimin Kang finished 10th for her first Top 10 since breaking a bone in her foot at the LPGA Championship. The Big Disappointment (new feature!) was definitely Cristie Kerr, who missed the cut for the first time in two years when she shot 78 on Friday. I certainly expect her to rebound at the Fields Open.

Sorry for the late recap – I was out of town over the Presidents Day weekend. I still haven’t had a chance to watch the final round coverage so if I see anything else to comment on, I’ll update this post Wednesday.
UPDATE: While replaying the final round coverage last night, I noticed that Morgan Pressel twice banged her putter on the ground in disgust after missing a putt (a big no-no in golf etiquette). The second instance left a noticable mark on the turf. I hope she or her caddy repaired the damage before leaving the green.

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