Jimin Kang claims her 2nd LPGA WIN at the innagural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia!

Jimin Kang heard the sounds of the crowd behind her as she finished up on #18, and had to wonder just how close Juli Inkster was to making a playoff a possibility. She anxiously awaited for Juli's finish before she would know if she would tout the trophy for the innaugural Sime Darby LPGA tournament in Malaysia.

Juli just missed becoming the oldest women to win in LPGA history. That in itself sounds rather brash considering Juli is only 50 yrs old. Juli kept a bounce in her step right to the finish at 18, when she bogeyed the hole after she pitched it out of the sand and rolled several feet past the pin. This set up for a very long par putt, which did not drop. While her playing partners finished, Juli sat on her golf bag and you could see the dejection on her face. Juli played a great tournament with rounds of 71, 67 & 67.

Jimin had rounds of 70, 69 & 65 respectively, with her final round consisting of 7 birdies and only 1 bogey. Once she saw that Juli bogeyed the hole, tears began to flow while near the scoring tent and watching it on TV.  She had her rookie year in 2003 after college at Arizona State. Today was just her 2nd win on tour, with the first in 2005 at the LPGA Corning Classic. That was also where she carded her first hole-in-one! She has a career low round of 62, which came the week following her 1st win. This year, she had not finished higher than a tie for 7th place.

A tip of the visor to Christina Kim for her 6th place finish, a tie with Jiyai Shin. Cristie Kerr finished in 8th place, and there was a 3 way tie for 9th, with Beatriz Recari, Jee Young Lee and Song-Hee Kim. Maria Hjorth was also a contender today and finished in a tie for 3rd, with Mika Miyazato, behind Juli's 2nd place. Meena Lee took 5th place on her own.

Recent winner Katherine Hull finished in a tie for 23rd, after a final round of 70 today. Two others in the top 6 in world rankings had the following finishes; Suzann Pettersen in a tie for 16th place and Yani Tseng in a tie for 41st.

A great innaugural tournament for Sime Darby indeed!

Now, Go Hit Some Balls................