RECARI BEATS KIM IN PLAY-OFF TO WIN KIA CLASSIC

       BEATRIZ RECARI ... second win on LPGA Tour. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)


FROM THE LPGA TOUR.COM WEBSITE
Rolex Rankings No. 45 Beatriz Recari (@BeatrizRecari) has been known as the “Iron Woman” on the LPGA Tour of late for her consistency and on Sunday, she used a gritty performance to beat I K Kim in a two-hole play-off to win her second-career LPGA victory at the Kia Classic.
Recari, who was bogey-free for the first three rounds in Carlsbad, turned in three bogeys and one birdie on her final circuit, including a bogey on the 18th where she missed a four-foot par putt to win. After her win, Recari admitted to that her nerves were not nearly as calm as they were during her first win back in 2010.
“I don't think I'm any close to calm right now,” said Recari. “It's the opposite.  Every victory is different and this is just amazing and I can't believe it.  It's been really hard work and it's definitely paid off and I'm really happy.”
Recari and Kim both bogeyed the first play-off hole on No. 18 but Recari didn’t let her blunders on the green get in her head.
“Well, I said I still have another chance and I was still in it, and I had a good memory from my only other play-off as a professional and I won, so Andreas told me, ‘You've done this before and you know that green,’” said Recari. 
“I don't know if it's because of the shade, it was definitely quicker than I thought in first two attempts that I had and fortunately I read it correctly the last one and I'm just very happy.”
Iron Woman: When asked about where her strong sense of determination comes from and how she’s become such a gritty player on the course, Recari credits her upbringing in Spain.
“It just comes I think comes from my family.  I was raised by my grandma who was tough, and my mom, too.  In Spain when women marry, they don't lose their name so I had actually my father's name and my mom's name, and she always told me, you're Eransus, you're not Recari, you're Eransus, you're tough.  
"So I just told myself, you know, I'm not a hundred percent, I'm not feeling very bad but definitely not hundred percent so I just have to grind it out and just do it and just do my best.”
Looking forward: After bogeying No. 18 in regulation to move to 9-under par, I.K. Kim thought she was done for the day. The South Korean and three-time LPGA Tour winner said she didn’t have much regret the way she played the final hole twice over again in the play-off.
“Well, I never thought I could play that hole again and again, but I did that,” said Kim.  “Hit good shots.  The second shot is pretty tricky and the last one I had a great chance, too.  It was the right club, but we didn't get that wind kind of, it was kind of gusting on and off and we didn't catch that, so it came up a little short but she made a good putt.”
Kim, who lives 15 minutes away from Aviara Golf Club, says it would’ve been special to win in the San Diego area but feels that her game is coming together.
“Yeah, it would have been great if I had won, you know, but I played well this week and even last week I played well, so I think I'm going in the right direction and I just think I'm working on the right things,” said Kim.  You know, it's getting better, so I'm very excited about this season.”
The next event on the Tour’s schedule is the first major of the season at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, where Kim missed a 1-foot putt to win her first major championship a year ago. She said she’s hoping to take her best game to Rancho Mirage and hopefully use the support of well-wishers to help her win her first major.
“A lot of people are rooting for me, so I just want to go out there and play my game and nothing else, just have fun,” said Kim. “It's great to have opportunity to win a championship.”
Oh so close…Rolex Rankings No. 1 Stacy Lewis’ bid for a third straight victory fell just a bit short on Sunday.
Lewis found trouble with the water hazards during her final round. After moving into a tie for the lead with a birdie on the 10th, Lewis found the water on the par-3 11th and wound up with a double-bogey. It was then trouble with the water on the 18th that officially eliminated any hopes she had of capturing another victory.
The last player to win three straight on the LPGA Tour was Lorena Ochoa, who actually won four straight in 2008 (Safeway International Presented by Coca-Cola, March 27-30; Kraft Nabisco Championship, April 3-6; Corona Championship, April 10-13; Ginn OPEN, April 17-20)

Golden ticket winners: I.K. Kim, Pornanong Phatlum and Mo Martin punched their "Ticket to CME Group Titleholders" at the Kia Classic, each earning a spot in the season-ending CME Group Titleholders event, which will be held from November 21-24 in Naples, Florida. The third-annual CME Group Titleholders is a season finale with a field made up of three qualifiers from every LPGA Tour tournament.
Quotable: “Yeah, well for me it's just a matter of building a good team and I'm very fortunate to have him because I think he's very good at what he does.  It has nothing to do with he's my boyfriend or not.  He's really good at what he does and he deserves to get the credit.  I know that he's always going to do his best regardless.” – Beatriz Recari what it’s like to win with her boyfriend, Andreas Thorp, caddying for her

 FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZEMONEY

POS	NAME	SCORES	TOTAL	TO PAR	OFFICIAL MONEY
T1	Beatriz Recari (WNR)	69-67-69-74	279	-9	$255,000
T1	I.K. Kim	71-67-70-71	279	-9	$156,616
T3	Pornanong Phatlum	75-68-69-68	280	-8	$90,748
T3	Mo Martin	69-71-71-69	280	-8	$90,748
T3	Cristie Kerr	70-68-71-71	280	-8	$90,748
T6	Jane Park	66-72-72-71	281	-7	$49,590
T6	Lizette Salas	69-70-70-72	281	-7	$49,590
T6	Karrie Webb	67-70-70-74	281	-7	$49,590
T9	Haeji Kang	69-69-76-68	282	-6	$33,762
T9	Giulia Sergas	68-74-72-68	282	-6	$33,762
T9	Azahara Munoz	72-70-69-71	282	-6	$33,762
T9	Stacy Lewis	70-70-69-73	282	-6	$33,762
T13	Ha-Neul Kim	73-72-68-70	283	-5	$26,467
T13	Na Yeon Choi	72-71-68-72	283	-5	$26,467
T13	Suzann Pettersen	71-71-69-72	283	-5	$26,467
16	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	69-74-72-69	284	-4	$23,494
T17	Jacqui Concolino	70-72-71-72	285	-3	$20,922
T17	Chella Choi	71-70-71-73	285	-3	$20,922
T17	Inbee Park	69-69-72-75	285	-3	$20,922
T17	Paula Creamer	69-68-71-77	285	-3	$20,922
T21	Carlota Ciganda	70-72-74-70	286	-2	$18,350
T21	Caroline Hedwall	67-72-75-72	286	-2	$18,350
T21	Sandra Gal	70-72-71-73	286	-2	$18,350
T24	Catriona Matthew	75-72-71-69	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Gerina Piller	74-70-74-69	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Vicky Hurst	74-71-72-70	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Moriya Jutanugarn	71-73-72-71	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Ai Miyazato	72-72-72-71	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Jee Young Lee	72-69-74-72	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Stacy Prammanasudh	71-70-74-72	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Amy Yang	73-73-68-73	287	-1	$14,634
T24	Jeong Jang	72-68-72-75	287	-1	$14,634
T33	Amanda Blumenherst	69-72-79-68	288	E	$10,354
T33	Se Ri Pak	69-78-71-70	288	E	$10,354
T33	Belen Mozo	70-76-71-71	288	E	$10,354
T33	So Yeon Ryu	70-70-77-71	288	E	$10,354
T33	Jennifer Johnson	71-74-71-72	288	E	$10,354
T33	Ayako Uehara	73-73-70-72	288	E	$10,354
T33	Hee Kyung Seo	71-72-72-73	288	E	$10,354
T33	Jiyai Shin	71-73-70-74	288	E	$10,354
T41	Juli Inkster	73-74-69-73	289	+1	$8,404
T41	Alison Walshe	74-69-72-74	289	+1	$8,404
T43	Ji Young Oh	74-71-74-71	290	+2	$7,305
T43	Kathleen Ekey	72-73-72-73	290	+2	$7,305
T43	Karine Icher	75-70-71-74	290	+2	$7,305
T43	Ilhee Lee	74-71-71-74	290	+2	$7,305
T43	Jenny Shin	70-71-74-75	290	+2	$7,305
48	Paola Moreno	71-72-74-74	291	+3	$6,516
T49	Stephanie Sherlock	74-73-73-72	292	+4	$5,848
T49	Nicole Castrale	74-70-73-75	292	+4	$5,848
T49	Austin Ernst	69-75-73-75	292	+4	$5,848
T49	Jessica Korda	68-75-74-75	292	+4	$5,848
T49	Kristy McPherson	70-76-69-77	292	+4	$5,848
T54	Sara Maude Juneau	74-72-77-70	293	+5	$5,231
T54	Dewi Claire Schreefel	71-73-75-74	293	+5	$5,231
56	Anna Nordqvist	73-73-76-72	294	+6	$4,972
T57	Amy Hung	72-74-76-73	295	+7	$4,631
T57	Mariajo Uribe	78-69-74-74	295	+7	$4,631
T57	Lisa McCloskey	72-74-72-77	295	+7	$4,631
T60	Sydnee Michaels	74-73-77-73	297	+9	$4,073
T60	Pernilla Lindberg	75-71-77-74	297	+9	$4,073
T60	Jennifer Rosales	75-72-75-75	297	+9	$4,073
T60	Christina Kim	72-75-73-77	297	+9	$4,073
T60	Shanshan Feng	71-74-73-79	297	+9	$4,073
T60	Tiffany Joh	73-74-71-79	297	+9	$4,073
66	Momoko Ueda	75-71-76-76	298	+10	$3,773
T67	Thidapa Suwannapura	71-75-77-76	299	+11	$3,644
T67	Lindsey Wright	72-74-76-77	299	+11	$3,644
69	Felicity Johnson	72-73-76-79	300	+12	$3,516
T70	Kayla Mortellaro	75-72-79-75	301	+13	$3,387
T70	Jin Young Pak	72-75-78-76	301	+13	$3,387
T70	Lexi Thompson	75-72-72-82	301	+13	$3,387
73	Laura Diaz	72-75-74-82	303	+15	$3,301
74	Marcy Hart	73-71-82-79	305	+17	$3,258