Shin returns to top of LPGA money list
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2009 NW Arkansas Championship | Round Three | 14 Sep 2009
Ji Yai Shin is a rookie on the 2009 LPGA Tour but you could be excused for thinking otherwise after yet another impressive win today in Arkansas.
For Shin it was her third win of the season and the sixth of her LPGA Tour career following her three victories as a non member of the LPGA Tour in 2008.
Shin defeated fellow countrywoman Sun Young Yoo and Angela Stanford in a playoff at the Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers Arkansas and in doing so has leapt back to the top of the LPGA Tour money list.
The victory and the accompanying US$270,000 moves Shin ahead of Cristie Kerr in the money list race and keeps her on track to win, the LPGA Tour money list, the Player of the Year and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year titles.
“That would be huge,” Shin said when asked about winning two awards. “That would be a huge, a huge thing for me, because I’m a rookie this year, so I just focus on the rookie of the year. But now I have a chance for player of the year, too. So, I want to now focus to the whole thing. If I get both, I think I can’t live with myself; would be so exciting.”
Shin started the final round nearly two hours ahead of the final pairing and so her final round of 64 left her a long wait before the eventual playoff began.
“Well, usually my goal is top-10, because the last couple months my shots have been a little bit down,” said Shin. “So, my goal was top-10. But today my goal was to be 2-under-par, because I heard the rain coming and the windy day, so I want to just make under-par score. My shot was still good, and my putting was really, really good today.”
Lindsey Wright was the best of the Australians in a rather ordinary week for them, finishing 36th, Sarah Jane Smith 44th, Katherine Hull was 50th, Anna Rawson 69th and Rachel Hetherington 75th.
The LPGA Tour will now play the rather grandly named Samsung World Championship in California.
