ADT Championship Sunday: Shin Wins Again!

I actually got to see the putts on 17 and the entire 18th hole for Ji-Yai Shin and Karrie Webb yesterday in the ADT Championship--at the home of the 2nd set of friends onechan, imoto, and I visited while the Full Metal Archivist was finishing up a presentation for today--but having successfully avoided the temptation of the web before we headed out, there were a lot of gaps to fill from the last few minutes of the coverage. Why did Seon Hwa Lee look so disgusted after making that tough putt for bogey on 18? How did Angela Stanford blow up? Why was Eun-Hee Ji a non-factor at the end? And how did Suzann Pettersen and Jeong Jang score so badly?

Thanks to Hound Dog and Verdant Garden, I know more of the answers to these questions than I did from looking at the scorecards alone, but I'm still wondering how Seon Hwa could have hit such an awful shot on 17 when Ji Yai could stick hers there 4 times in a row. Time to check the Golf Channel highlights. Well, her swing didn't look any different--looks like she just overclubbed and hit it purer than she intended (or was it one of those pulls that goes a lot further than usual?). Too bad for Seon Hwa; great for Ji Yai! In only 10 events, she won enough as a non-member to have come in 3rd on the LPGA money list this season. Having won twice in Japan in 5 tries, that makes her 5 for 15 4 for 14 [sorry, forgot the Mizuno was a co-sponsored LPGA/JLPGA event] outside Korea in '08. Wonder what that ratio will be in '09? All I can say is, watch out, Lorena!

Fun to read the reactions over at Seoul Sisters.com, Waggle Room, and from Annika Sorenstam. I'll link to more here as the day goes on.

[Update 1 (11:11 am): Here's Hound Dog's epilogue.]

[Update 2 (11:18 am): Here's Beth Ann Baldry on Shin's win.]

[Update 3 (11:27 am): Here are LPGA.com's final-round notes and interviews.]

[Update 4 (11:39 am): Have to strongly disagree with Sal Johnson's criticism of the LPGA allowing a non-member to compete in the ADT and his feeling that Shin's win is bad for the LPGA. As I've said many times before, the LPGA should be applauded for trying to attract the best women golfers in the world to their tour and that great golf and great rivalries are what make a tour. With Shin, Tseng, and Creamer at the head of the line to challenge Ochoa for #1 in '09, the LPGA is in great shape, competition-wise, particularly when you consider they are going to have about 60 players who can win any given week after Q-School is done.]

[Update 5 (11:45 am): Steve Elling gets the story right, IMHO.]

[Update 6 (12:08 pm): Average Golfer notes Shin's win, but mistakenly implies her season is over: she still has the last major on the JLPGA to play, as well as the Korea vs. Japan showdown, the Pinx Cup, and may even play 1 more KLPGA event. For us golf bloggers, there's still the LPGA's Lexus Cup and Q-School, too.]

[Update 7 (11/25/08, 6:43 pm): Here's Daniel Wexler on Shin's early arrival!]

[Update 8 (11:33 pm): Here's Ron Sirak's big ADT recap story.]

[Update 9 (11/26/08, 12:18 am): Here's Karen Crouse in the New York Times on Shin's win.]