STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. - Sung Ah Yim picked up her first LPGA Tour victory in the most unlikely way possible: a final-round collapse by Annika Sorenstam that allowed the 22-year-old South Korean to win by two strokes Sunday.
After three straight rounds in the 60s gave Sorenstam the lead going to the final day of the Florida's Natural Charity Championship, she slumped to a 3-over 75 that left her in a three-way tie for second with Karrie Webb and Cristie Kerr.
Yim, in just her second year on the tour, played in the final group with Sorenstam. Amazingly, the part-time university student was the one who held it together at the end, scrambling for a 72. She got up and down from the fringe on three straight holes before knocking in a short birdie putt at the par-5 18th to finish at 16-under 272.
Sorenstam was seeking her second straight win at Eagle's Landing Country Club near Atlanta and the 68th LPGA Tour victory of her Hall of Fame victory. She was tied for the lead heading to No. 17, but she knocked her tee shot out of bounds along the right side of the fairway. After teeing off again, Sorenstam nearly pulled off a remarkable save, putting her fourth shot within 5 feet of the flag. But her putt slid by the hole - one of a half-dozen attempts she missed from that range - for a double bogey.
Kerr closed with a 69, and Webb shot a 70.
Shell Houston Open
HUMBLE, Texas - Stuart Appleby shot a 5-under 67 to cap a wire-to-wire victory in the Shell Houston Open and join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only two-time winners on the PGA Tour this year.
Appleby, also the 1999 winner in Houston, finished at 19-under 269 on the new Tournament Course at Redstone, six shots ahead of Bob Estes. Appleby matched the tournament record for margin of victory and was the first player in the event's 60-year history to lead from the opening round to the end.
Appleby, who turns 35 on May 1, earned $990,000 for his eighth tour win and has two victories in the same year for the first time in his career. In January, Appleby won the season-opening Mercedes Championships for the third straight time.
Estes closed with a 69, and Steve Stricker was 12 under after a 66. Mathias Gronberg, paired with Appleby, had a 73 to match Jerry Smith (72) at 10 under.
None of them ever threatened Appleby, who won for the fourth time in five tournaments when holding the 54-hole lead. His one blemish came in 2004, when he closed with a 76 at Bay Hill and lost to Chad Campbell.
Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Jay Haas had an eagle and three birdies on the back nine to pull away from Peter Jacobsen and Craig Stadler in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.
Haas, the Champions Tour rookie of the year in 2005, shot a 5-under 67 for a three-round total of 15-under 201 at The Club at Savannah Harbor. Jacobsen (67) and Stadler (70) tied for second at 10 under, and Hale Irwin (68) was another stroke back.
Haas, who missed the cut last week in the PGA Tour's Verizon Heritage in nearby Hilton Head, S.C., led all three days in the 54-hole event. After making the turn at even par, Haas eagled the 530-yard par-5 11th and birdied Nos. 13, 17 and 18 to pull away for his first win of the season.
Yim, in just her second year on the tour, played in the final group with Sorenstam. Amazingly, the part-time university student was the one who held it together at the end, scrambling for a 72. She got up and down from the fringe on three straight holes before knocking in a short birdie putt at the par-5 18th to finish at 16-under 272.
Sorenstam was seeking her second straight win at Eagle's Landing Country Club near Atlanta and the 68th LPGA Tour victory of her Hall of Fame victory. She was tied for the lead heading to No. 17, but she knocked her tee shot out of bounds along the right side of the fairway. After teeing off again, Sorenstam nearly pulled off a remarkable save, putting her fourth shot within 5 feet of the flag. But her putt slid by the hole - one of a half-dozen attempts she missed from that range - for a double bogey.
Kerr closed with a 69, and Webb shot a 70.
Shell Houston Open
HUMBLE, Texas - Stuart Appleby shot a 5-under 67 to cap a wire-to-wire victory in the Shell Houston Open and join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only two-time winners on the PGA Tour this year.
Appleby, also the 1999 winner in Houston, finished at 19-under 269 on the new Tournament Course at Redstone, six shots ahead of Bob Estes. Appleby matched the tournament record for margin of victory and was the first player in the event's 60-year history to lead from the opening round to the end.
Appleby, who turns 35 on May 1, earned $990,000 for his eighth tour win and has two victories in the same year for the first time in his career. In January, Appleby won the season-opening Mercedes Championships for the third straight time.
Estes closed with a 69, and Steve Stricker was 12 under after a 66. Mathias Gronberg, paired with Appleby, had a 73 to match Jerry Smith (72) at 10 under.
None of them ever threatened Appleby, who won for the fourth time in five tournaments when holding the 54-hole lead. His one blemish came in 2004, when he closed with a 76 at Bay Hill and lost to Chad Campbell.
Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Jay Haas had an eagle and three birdies on the back nine to pull away from Peter Jacobsen and Craig Stadler in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.
Haas, the Champions Tour rookie of the year in 2005, shot a 5-under 67 for a three-round total of 15-under 201 at The Club at Savannah Harbor. Jacobsen (67) and Stadler (70) tied for second at 10 under, and Hale Irwin (68) was another stroke back.
Haas, who missed the cut last week in the PGA Tour's Verizon Heritage in nearby Hilton Head, S.C., led all three days in the 54-hole event. After making the turn at even par, Haas eagled the 530-yard par-5 11th and birdied Nos. 13, 17 and 18 to pull away for his first win of the season.
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