Sunday, March 24, 2013

Kia Classic Sunday: Beatriz Recari Beats In-Kyung Kim in 2-Hole Playoff

OK, so let me get this straight.  World #1 Stacy Lewis was making one of her soon-to-be-patented Sunday charges at the Kia Classic, with 3 birdies in a row over her 1st 4 holes and another on the 10th to get her to -11, but she finished 3 shots out of the playoff between Beatriz Recari and In-Kyung Kim?!  IK herself was -11 with 8 holes to play, bogeyed 3 holes in a row, then offset her 2 birdies in a row with a walkoff bogey and still had a chance to win the tournament?  Recari was having a bad day, with bogeys on the par 3s 6 and 11 to fall back to single digits under par for the week, but fought back to match Kim's birdie on 16--and then also bogeyed 18?  What the heck was going on today on Aviara's back 9?

Yup, Stacy Lewis doubled 11 to fall to -9, bogeyed the par-3 14th to fall to -8, then needed a birdie to have a chance and instead doubled it.  Pornanong Phatlum had a chance to put pressure on the leaders and finish at -10 with a birdie and -9 with a par, so of course she bogeyed it.  Karrie Webb needed a birdie on it to post -9--she bogeyed it, too.  Others did their self-destructive thing a bit earlier in the round.  Mo Martin birdied 5 of her 1st 12 holes to get to -10, but immediately went bogey-par-bogey-bogey, so that her birdie on 17 left her 1 shot out of the playoff.  It was a double on 11 that knocked Cristie Kerr back from -9 to -7 and even though she fought back with a birdie on 16, it was still too little, too late.  Paula Creamer was by no means out of it when she birdied the 10th to get to -8, but she was after she had finished bogeying her next 5 holes in a row.  Lizette Salas and Jane Park were still at -8 pretty late in the day, but moved 1 shot in the wrong direction.  Even Haeji Kang, Suzann Pettersen, and Azahara Munoz had their chances--Kang birdied 5 of her 1st 11 holes to get to -7, but a double bogey-bogey-eagle run left her at -6 for the tournament, while Pettersen had birdied 3 of her 1st 10 holes to fight to -7, but a bogey on 12 and a double on 14 ended her chances and for Munoz, who was also -7 well into the back, it was a double on 13 and a walkoff bogey with made her birdies on 14 and 16 moot.  Even Giulia Sergas, who matched Phatlum's and Kang's 68s for low round of the day, bogeyed a couple of holes midway through the back 9.

This one sounds like it would have been fun to watch, with more cliffhangers than a 15-minute Japanese morning soap opera and more crashes than my '90s-era Macs.  So somebody who saw it, please tell me: how did Recari find a way to win this thing?!

4 comments:

leftygomez said...

Recari and Kim both bogeyed 18 in regulation and both three putted it for bogeys on the first playoff hole. On the second playoff hole, Kim made a good long approach putt for a tap in par but Recari rolled a 20-25 footer from four feet off the green for a birdie for the win. Both of them drove well but nobody stuck a really good approach shot in the six total times they played #18 at the end.

Tony Jesselli (Tonyj5) said...

Now I am looking forward to your next ranking of "the class of 2010". The fact that Azahara has still never won a stroke play event, and this is Recari's second has to have you thinking about a change on the top.

Bam-Bam said...

Poor gal (Inky) just can't buy any luck! At least, she's playing better. She seems to have gotten over last year's tomfoolery.

Interesting to see two of my favorite players making some noise.

------

Hey Tony,

How many games have the Spaniards won in LPGA?

Any Majors?

Tony Jesselli (Tonyj5) said...

Bam Bam - Of the current players, Azahara Munoz has one victory at the 2012 Sybase Match Play. This is Beatriz's 2nd win. I look for Carlota Ciganda, who has won on the L.E.T., and Belen Mozo to start making some noise soon.