Sunday, October 6, 2013

Reignwood LPGA Classic Sunday: Making History

Shanshan Feng won the inaugural Reignwood LPGA Classic in her native country with a walkoff eagle on the par-5 18th to beat Stacy Lewis by a shot, -26 to -25.  How incredible is that?!

What a tough loss for Lewis!  3 birdies in a row on the front brought her to -24 on the 7th tee and 2 shots ahead of Feng.  But Feng fought back with birdies on 9 and 10 to regain a share of the lead.  Lewis responded with a birdie on the par-3 13th to move to -25.  Her 67-hole bogey-free run ended on the par-4 14th, but she maintained her hard-fought 1-shot lead on Feng when the fan favorite also bogeyed the hole.  When both players parred 15, birdied 16, and parred 17, the stage was set for an incredible finish.

While we wait for LPGA.com's notes and interviews from the final round, it's worth noting that world #1 Inbee Park matched Feng's and Lewis's final-round 68s to finish at -21, 1 shot ahead of Karrie Webb.  Na Yeon Choi had a good week, finishing solo 5th at -16, while Ya Ni Tseng continued her arduous comeback with a 66 that brought her to -14 and solo 6th for the week.

More soon!

[Update 1 (7:02 am): The New York Times focuses as much on the smog as on how exactly Feng eagled 18 and Lewis parred it....  I guess they don't call the paper the Gray Lady for nothing!]

[Update 2 (8:05 am):  A kind commenter sent me the video of the final approach shot to 18 that Feng clearly thought she had dumped in the water hazard but landed in a narrow neck perfectly, bounced up, hit the flagstick, and stopped 3 feet away from the pin!  http://video.sina.com.cn/p/sports/golf/v/2013-10-06/174062988841.html?opsubject_id=sports-1712]

[Update 3 (8:43 am):  Here are LPGA.com's notes and interviews!]

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Feng's incredible second shoot in 18 hole.so so amazing !!!!!!
How lucky she is.
http://video.sina.com.cn/p/sports/golf/v/2013-10-06/174062988841.html?opsubject_id=sports-1712

The Constructivist said...

Thanks, could you tell if that landed in the hazard or on a rock, as Stacy Lewis has been tweeting?

Anonymous said...

not on a rock.

Dave Andrews said...

my miss hits never hit the pin. that's one for the books.

Anonymous said...

Can someone explain why Lewis is upset (re:her remarks on Twitter)? Issue with Feng's shot? Chinese fans?

The Constructivist said...

I suspect it was (of course) a real home crowd, but maybe one that isn't as up on golf etiquette as she's used to--or attending a pro golf tournament.