DEWI-CLAIRE SCHREEFEL HAS $100,000 HOLE IN ONE

LYDIA KO (17) WINS AGAIN ON LPGA

TOUR - THIS TIME IN CALIFORNIA

Photo Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Lydia Ko of New Zealand celebrates with the trophy during the Final Round after winning the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at the Lake Merced Golf Club in San Francisco, California.

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE 

Seventeen-year-old New Zealander Lydia Ko capped a memorable weekend in perhaps the only way that seemed fitting – with a win. 

Ko birdied the 18th hole to shoot a 3-under 69 in Sunday’s final round and defeat Rolex Rankings No. 3 Stacy Lewis by a stroke at the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. 

It marked Ko’s third LPGA victory and her first as a member of the Tour. It also came in the same week that the New Zealander turned 17 and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.
One day after delivering an impressive show on the back nine at Lake Merced Golf Club, Lewis and Ko once again provided a duel to the finish. Ko made back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 to move to 11-under and take a two-shot lead over Lewis, but the top-ranked American bounced back with a birdie on the 16th to cut that lead to one. 

Lewis had a chance to birdie 17 and tie Ko but missed the putt and then it all came down to the final hole with their playing partner, Jenny Shin, also in the mix. 

 All three players hit their approach shots close on the par-5 with Shin and Lewis needing their birdie putts to tie Ko. But the newly turned 17-year-old didn’t leave the door open, sinking her own birdie putt to capture the win.

Loves Swinging Skirts
Lydia Ko’s first professional win was at the 2013Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters and this week she won her first LPGA event as a member of the Tour at the Swining Skirts LPGA Classic.

“Yeah, definitely something is going on.” Ko said. “No, I been getting a lot of support from the Swinging Skirts team, Chairman Wong and Miss Chu. That’s why I kind of wanted to play better, to make them happy. They have been supporting me and invited me to their tournament in Taiwan. I won over there and I was so happy to do that and have my first win over there at their tournament. To kind of have my first LPGA win since I turned pro here again I think is great. I think they’re a great group of people, and I think it was a great golf course to win it.”
A Win and a Loss
Despite not finding herself in the winner’s circle today, Stacy Lewis now takes the lead in the Race to the CME Globe. This was the third time this year that Lewis has found herself in second place with the others coming at the Pure Silk Bahamas Classic (Jessica Korda) and a T-2 at the JTBC Founders Cup (Karrie Webb).

Lewis has finished in the top-10 in 14 out of her last 15 events on the LPGA Tour. The consistency has certainly been impressive but Lewis is a born competitor and she has acknowledged that recording only one win during that stretch hasn’t sat well with her. 

Still with the type of golf she’s been playing, Lewis believes she’s close to breaking through again.

“I’ve had a couple good finishes here these last couple tournaments I’ve played in,” Lewis said. “The golf is there. Just got to keep putting myself [in contention] and giving myself chances.”

Learning Curve
Jenny Shin hasn’t been in contention for an LPGA title very often in her career so the experience that she gained Sunday playing in the final group at the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic with Stacy Lewis and Lydia Ko was invaluable for the 21-year-old.
Shin was up to the test too, shooting a 4-under 68 for the third time this week and putting herself in position to possibly force a playoff on the 18th. It inevitably wasn’t meant to be as Shin missed her birdie putt on 18 and Ko made hers to capture the victory.
“It was nerve wracking,” Shin said of the experience. “I almost shanked my third shot [on 18]. I was actually surprised it went on the green. I was fortunate to have a birdie putt. I just misread it. Again. But I feel great shooting 68 again.
So what did Shin learn from Ko and Lewis?
“They were fearless,” Shin said. “They just went for it. No matter where the pin was, they just went for it. If not, two-putt, par. Stacy didn’t putt as well as she usually does today, but it was really great watching them play. They were very calm and like they do this every day, you know, being in the final group every day. So I learned a lot.”

A $100k Ace
Players knew all week long that acing 12 would bring them a big paycheck. Dewi Claire Schreefel picked the perfect hole to ace, picking up $100,000 thanks to Chinatrust Bank on the 157-yard 12th hole at Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

“Perfect hole to do it.” Schreefel said. “ I was walking up 18 and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God it’s worth more than a car.’ So it’s great. It’s only my second one, so awesome.”

This was her first ace on the LPGA tour and second in her lifetime, the other coming on a Future’s Tour event in Albany, which was uphill so she couldn’t see it.

“This one I could see.” Schreefel said. “I hit a perfect shot and I was like, ‘Oh, be good.’ I think Suzann (Pettersen) yelled, ‘Get in,’ and then it was in. It was awesome.”

Coming into this tournament, Schreefel had made $45,605 in 2014.

Another Top Ten for Wie

Michelle Wie (-2) had her fifth top ten finish of the year at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. Wie had just four top-ten finishes in 2013 and the five this year are her most since she had seven in 2011.

Quote of the Day
“Every time Lydia needed to hit a shot, she did. She made some pretty tough shots there, especially the last three holes. Really looked pretty easy. She definitely earned it out there today.” –Stacy Lewis on going shot for shot with Swinging Skirts LPGA Champion Lydia Ko.


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Players from USA unless stated
276 Lydia Ko (NZ) 68 71 68 69 ($270,000)
277 Stacy Lewis 69 69 68 71 ($163,551)
278 Jenny Shin (S Korea) 68 74 68 68 ($118,644)
282 Inbee Park (S Korea) 73 68 73 68, Line Videl (Denmark) 72 71 70 69, Shanshan Feng (China) 74 70 68 70 ($75,365 each)
SELECTED OTHERS
286 Michele Wie 72 71 71 71, Karine Icher (France) 66 73 73 74 (T9) ($35,257 each)
288 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 76 69 73 70 (T15) ($24,594)
290 Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 73 69 74 74 (T21) ($17,806)
281 Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 70 72 79 70 (T28) ($14,909)
294 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 73 72 73 76 (T41) ($7,813)

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