The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
57°F
Current Conditions
Few clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Yang wins first title

Y.E. Yang’s one-stroke Honda Classic win was his first PGA Tour victory. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Y.E. Yang’s one-stroke Honda Classic win was his first PGA Tour victory. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Y.E. Yang has his first PGA Tour win, closing out a one-shot victory Sunday over John Rollins at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The South Korean took command with three straight birdies on the front side and wouldn’t fold, picking up a two-year exemption and a check for $1,008,000. With the win, he qualified for next week’s CA Championship at Doral, plus earned an invitation to next month’s Masters.

Best known for beating Tiger Woods at the HSBC Champions in 2006, Yang shot a 2-under 68 in the final round, finishing the tournament at 9-under 271.

Rollins (67) was alone in second and he, like Yang, qualified for the CA Championship by moving into the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings. Ben Crane (68) was third after finishing 6 under and Jeff Klauk (71, with 17 pars and one bogey) was alone in fourth, another shot back.

LPGA Tour

South Korean star Jiyai Shin won the HSBC Women’s Champions at Singapore for her fourth LPGA Tour victory in eight months.

Shin shot her second straight 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Australia’s Katherine Hull.

Shin, 20, five strokes behind Hull at the start of the round and four back with nine holes to play, had an 11-under 277 total at Tanah Merah and earned $300,000 for her first victory as a member of the LPGA Tour.

Last year before becoming an LPGA Tour member, Shin won the Women’s British Open and added victories in the Mizuno Classic in Japan and season-ending ADT Championship.

Angela Park (68), Paula Creamer (70) and SBS Open winner Angela Stanford (73) tied for third at 8 under. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, the 2008 champion coming off her 25th LPGA Tour victory last week in Thailand, shot a 70 to tie for sixth with Jane Park (73) and Sun Young Yoo (73) at 7 under.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot 72 on Sunday to finish at 6-over-par, 294.

Champions Tour

Eduardo Romero shot a 3-under 68 on to win the Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach, Calif., by one stroke over Joey Sindelar and Mark O’Meara.

Romero finished at 11-under 202 and Romero earned $255,000 for his fifth career Champions Tour victory. Romero made three consecutive birdies to start the back nine, while O’Meara, Denis Watson and Sindelar weren’t able to keep pace.

Sindelar had the best round of the day at 8-under 63.