Yang spoils Sorenstam’s Swedish finale
Amy Yang of South Korea spoiled Annika Sorenstam’s finale on home turf, tying the course record with a 9-under 63 Sunday for a six-shot victory at the Scandinavian TPC in Stockholm, Sweden.
Sorenstam eagled the par-4 17th to move into second place. The Swedish Hall of Famer took a double-bogey on the last hole, hitting her tee shot into the water and three-putting.
Sorenstam, the tournament host, shot 72 and finished seven strokes back to tie for sixth with three other Swedes. She was greeted by a packed gallery on the 18th green.
“I decided to forget that I hit the ball in the water,” Sorenstam said. “I enjoyed seeing the fans making the wave and applauding when I went up to the green. It felt really good.”
The 19-year-old Yang captured her second win as a professional in the rain-shortened 54-hole tournament with a 14-under 202 total at the Frosaker Golf and Country Club.
“I never thought I could win the tournament,” said Yang, who accepted the trophy and a hug from Sorenstam. “The leader was four shots ahead of me, so I thought I’d just go out and have fun. I’m very happy.”
Yang birdied seven of 10 holes from the third to move atop the leaderboard. She stayed there, finishing with birdies on the last three holes. Her only bogey came on the second hole.
Minea Blomqvist of Finland set the course record (63) earlier in the day. She shared second with Melodie Bourdy of France (66), overnight leader Lill Saether of Norway (73) and Maria Hjorth of Sweden (72) in the European Ladies Tour event.
Saether and Hjorth set the course record with 64s on Saturday. Sorenstam had lowered the record to 66 on Thursday.
Yang won the ANZ Ladies Masters at 16 in 2006, becoming the first amateur to win a major women’s pro tournament in Australia. Her first pro win came at the Ladies German Open in June.
Joining Sorenstam at 209 were Liselotte Neumann (66), Louise Friberg (69) and amateur Anna Nordqvist (71). American Jill McGill (71) tied for 13th.
U.S. Women’s Amateur
Duke star Amanda Blumenherst rallied to beat NCAA champion Azahara Munoz 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
Blumenherst, the three-time national college player of the year, was 1-down after the morning 18 and still a hole behind through 27. She squared it with a birdie on the par-4 10th, took the lead with a par on the par-5 13th and pulled two holes in front with a birdie on the par-5 16th. Both players parred 17 to end the match.
Blumenherst, a two-time Curtis Cup player, won the tournament a year after a 1-up loss to Maria Uribe in the final at Crooked Stick.