Dubai Ladies Saturday: Big Win for In-Kyung Kim!

In the end, a Kim denied Michelle Wie her 2nd win of 2009 this weekend at the Dubai Ladies Masters, but it wasn't Solheim Cup teammate Christina. No, it was fellow LPGAer In-Kyung Kim who secured win #2 this season with a 5-birdie 68 today, which was good enough for a 3-shot margin of victory, even in the face of Wie's flawless (except for a ball in the lake on her attempt to hit the par-5 18th in 2) 65.

Here's how the top 10 and notables ended up:

1st/-18 In-Kyung Kim (70-65-67-68)
2nd/-15 Michelle Wie (69-68-71-65)
3rd/-14 Maria Hjorth (66-73-67-68)
T4/-11 Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (69-72-71-65), Laura Davies (71-69-70-67), Tania Elosegui (72-66-70-69), Anna Nordqvist (72-68-65-72)
8th/-10 Gwladys Nocera (71-69-68-70)
T9/-9 Jade Schaeffer (72-72-66-69), Melissa Reid (73-68-69-69), Amy Yang (68-70-70-71)

12th/-8 Catriona Matthew (71-68-71-70)
14th/-5 Sophie Gustafson (72-69-70-71)
T17/-4 Christina Kim (72-70-74-68), Titiya Plucksataporn (68-71-73-72)
T19/-3 Karen Stupples (71-70-75-69), Becky Morgan (75-67-72-71), Minea Blomqvist (69-72-72-72)
T25/-2 Carin Koch (73-71-71-71), Veronica Zorzi (78-68-68-72)
T27/-1 Louise Friberg (76-69-71-71)
T31/E Diana Luna (75-70-74-69), Iben Tinning (71-73-74-70), Ashleigh Simon (72-74-70-72), Johanna Mundy (71-73-71-73), Julieta Granada (68-71-73-76)
T36/+1 Nikki Garrett (77-70-73-69), Anja Monke (77-68-71-73)
T38/+2 Louise Stahle (76-70-71-71), Sophie Giquel (72-68-74-76)
T43/+3 Becky Brewerton (73-73-71-74), Linda Wessberg (71-71-74-75), Anna Rawson (70-73-71-77)
T51/+5 Bo Mi Suh (74-71-73-75)
T54/+6 Nina Reis (74-73-71-76), Marianne Skarpnord (75-71-71-77)
T58/+7 Emma Cabrera-Bello (76-69-74-76)

Kim's 3rd career win was her 1st off the LPGA, and it secured her LET membership. The 75,000-euro 1st-place prize woud have been enough to put her at #21 on the final LET money list. Meanwhile, it was almost a Swedish sweep for top LET honors in 2009, as Sophie Gustafson won the money title for the 4th time in her career, despite playing in only 4 events all season, and Anna Nordqvist won Rookie of the Year. Only Catriona Matthews being voted Player of the Year brought a little diversity, Euro-style, to the LET's top awards.