KLPGA: 2015 Hanwha Finance Classic

Round 4: Bae vs. Nomura in Playoff, Nomura Wins

Seon Woo Bae started the day with a four shot lead over Haru Nomura and a six shot lead over IK Kim. But the rough was brutal, and high scores were everywhere (no one broke par; 73 was the best score).

For instance, Alison Lee, who started the day at even par, ballooned to a 9 over par 81. 75s, 77s and 78s were plentiful.



Seon Woo Bae had a rough go of it. Right out of the gate she made bogey, and had a double on 4 and a triple on 9. By the turn, she was five over for the day, and another bogey on 12 put her at 2 under total, which was just a shot ahead of her playing partners Nomura and Kim.



Alas, Kim made a bogey on the next hole to drop to even par, two back. Bae managed a birdie on 15, so the scores were 3 under for Bae, 1 under for Nomura and even par for Inky.



This was the score as they reached 18. All Bae needed was a bogey and she would probably win; a par would do it for sure. And it was a par 5.

But Bae hit a terrible drive that came within a few feet of going out of bounds. She had to punch out, and her third still left her a full iron from the green.



Nomura and Inky both put their third shots within birdie range, but Bae dropped hers into the thick rough near the green. She hit a weak chip and left herself ten feet for bogey. Suddenly, all three players were capable of winning.

For Inky, she needed the birdie to drop, but it just missed. She tapped in for par and finished third.



Nomura went next. A birdie would require Bae to make her long bogey putt, but she, too missed and tapped in for par.



So now it was all up to Bae. She hit the bogey putt, and it was perfectly on line. She started a victory fist pump, but... No! It lipped out. How that didn't go in is beyond explanation, but it did not. She tapped in for double, and it was playoff time.

In the playoff, Bae put her second shot into the rough and hit over the green, while Nomura hit two perfect shots, but left her third short in the deadly rough that gave Bae trouble in regulation.



In thick rough and way across the green, Bae chipped to about six feet. Nomura chipped hers two feet past. Bae missed the par save, and the win was Nomura's.





Congratulations to Nomura on one of the biggest surprise wins of the year. The KLPGA seems a bit depleted right now, with its biggest stars either absent, injured, or not playing well at all, but it's still amazing for a low ranked Japanese player to come in and win one of the biggest tournaments of the year on the Korean tour. I can literally not think of another time this happened. And for Bae, it will be a night of what ifs, as she tries to figure out how she let this one slip through her fingers.



Score:
1. Haru Nomura 75 -1
2. Seon Woo Bae 79 -1
3. In Kyung Kim 74 Even
4. Han Sul Ji (R) 74, Ji Hyun Kim 75 +3

Notables:
6. Hye Jin Choi (A) 77 +4
10. Jenny Shin 78, Ran Hong 75 +6
13. Eun Hee Ji 73, Shin Ae Ahn 77 +7
18. Jae Eun Jung 77, Jin Joo Hong 76, Min Young Lee 79 +8
22. Alison Lee 81, Bo Kyung Kim 78, Ji Hyun Oh 77, Chae Young Yoon 74, Ji Hee Kim 80 +9
31. Min Sun Kim 5 74, Char Young Kim 79 +10
35. Ha Neul Kim 76, Hye Youn Kim 74, Ji Young Park (R) 80, Min Song Ha 82 +11
40. Il Hee Lee 81, Jin Young Ko 77 +12
49. Gyeol Park (R) 80 +16
50. Soo Jin Yang 81 +17
52. Je Yoon Yang 86 +18

Pix

Amateur Hye Jin Choi



Why so mad, Alison Lee?



That's better!



Soo Jin Yang





Jin Young Ko



Min Young Lee



Shin Ae Ahn





Min Sun Kim



Gyeol Park



Ha Neul Kim





w/ Chae Young Yoon





Chae Young Yoon





Jae Eun Jung



Jenny Shin







Han Sul Ji

Congratulation to Nomura for the win.
I was really hoping Seon Woo would hold on for the win.
After the tenth hole, I thought In Kyung would win.
She seem to be playing steady and hitting fairways.

That course would really drain me mentally.
You had to hit quality shots, on every hole.
Most of the KLPGA courses do not allow you to spray the ball.
Even the under laden greens test your skill.

I was going to post that.  According to some articles, she had a dual nationality, Korean and Japanese, until she had to declare one at 18.  She attended Korean schools and graduated from high school while in Korea.  She speaks better in Korean than Japanese.  She feels some identity crisis since she is not welcomed in neither country.  A sad situation.  Well, at least she gained one fan.   I'll root for her from now.

mr3putt:


Hanwha should have set up their own Alternate List!  Number One would have Haeji Kang and Number Two would have been the conqueror of Mexico, Christine Song!  C.S. is on a roll...she shot Even this past week in South Dakota and was T-36.


mr3putt:


Yeah, I finally got around to watching the winning putt and I saw about 85% folded arms in the background, hee hee.


Where did the time go?  This is Inky's ninth year in the "big leagues" and she is still adorable...and she is still talented.  If she is really haunted by that missed ANA putt, that is total b.s., and she needs to get a sports shrink to wash that out of her brain.  She is good enough to win NOW, no excuses.

The orange jacket was too tight for Haru...she was uncomfortable in it.

I was really surprised to see Bae watching the closing ceremonies hiding under shades holding back tears.
If it was me....I'd be doing some 6 iron Elin swings in the locker room after the meltdown.