Category: Tournament Reports

WESTERN AMATEUR: Williams betters his own record in stroke play

Chris Williams set the Western Amateur scoring record for 72 holes when he went 16-under-par last year at North Shore Country Club, in Glenview. This year, with the 110-year-old tourney moving to Exmoor, in Highland Park, he did even better.

The University of Washington senior buzzed around Exmoor in 66-67 in Thursday’s 36-hole session to finish stroke play at 17-under-par 271. That earned him medalist honors by two strokes over his playing partner, 18-year old Laurens Chan from Honolulu, Hawaii. Chan will be a freshman at UCLA this fall,

“I played well last year and I apparently played better this year,’’ said Williams. “The courses were similar – short courses, tight, with long rough and soft greens. They played right into my hands.’’

Williams’ job is far from done, though. The Western Amateur calls for 72 holes of stroke play qualifying just to advance 16 players into the match play portion of the championship. So now Williams faces two days of matches if he’s to win the prestigious title. Last year he made it to match play at North Shore but lost to eventual runner-up Patrick Cantlay in the first round.

“Last year I ran into a buzzsaw, which was unfortunate,’’ said Williams. “But I’ve been working hard all year, and I’m happy that it paid off in a big tournament like this. It was all about attitude. I had very high expectations, like I’ve always had, but this week I was able to relax and have a good time.’’

Chan, in his first year playing a summer of big-time amateur tournaments, was impressed.

“Today was a good day. I played well, and I got a front-row ticket to watch one of the best amateurs in the world,’’ said Chan. “Now I see the difference between the best amateurs and me. He was firing at pins and his putting was so simple. It was fun to watch.’’

Williams is No. 5 in the world amateur rankings, and the highest on that list to qualify for the Western’s Sweet 16. No. 1 Bobby Wyatt and No. 3 Patrick Rodgers didn’t survive the first cut of stroke play.

Theo Lederhausen, a Harvard University junior from Hinsdale, was best of the Chicago players. He tied for 41st at 286 and didn’t qualify for match play, but the Western will be a good tuneup for him. He’s in the field at next week’s Illinois State Amateur at The Links at Kokopelli in downstate Marion.

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: First three-way playoff goes to Tulane’s Troyanovich

The men’s Illinois Open is limited to in-state residents, the women’s version isn’t. The impact of that was clearly evident in Friday’s final round of the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood in Romeoville.

For the first time in the tourney’s 18 stagings the title was decided in a playoff with Michigan amateur Samantha Troyanovich claiming the title with a birdie on the first hole.. Her victims in sudden death were Lauren Mielbrecht, the low pro from Gulf Stream, FL., and amateur Samantha Postillion, who grew up in Burr Ridge but is now living in Arizona. Only Flossmoor’s Ashley Armstrong cracked the top five among present Chicago players.

Postillion’s mother Kerry is the IWO’s only three-time champion, and Samantha contended for the first time after finished back in the pack for several years.

“I knew I was right there. I was going right at the pins the last five holes,’’ said Postillion, who will transfer from Scottdale Community College in Arizona to Illinois in the fall. “My mom’s name is on the trophy three times; that’s always been in the back of my mind when I’ve played here. I’ve always wanted a chance to win.’’

She had it this time, and joined Troyanovich in posting the low rounds of the 54-hole tournament. Both shot 3-under-par 69s en route to their 1-under 215 totals in regulation play.

Troyanovich and Mielbrecht were playing the IWO for the first time, and Mielbrecht picked up $5,000 for being low pro from a tourney-record purse of $25,000. Mielbrecht, who made four birdies in the first seven holes to take the outright lead, lipped out an eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that would have given her the title.

In sudden death, played on Mistwood’s re-designed 506-yard par-5 third hole, it was all Troyanovich. She not only hit the longest drive, she wound up with a beneficial lie. Though her ball was in the rough, her stance necessitated her standing on a sprinkler head. She was given a free drop that put her ball on the fairway.

From there she hit a hybrid to 25 yards of the green, chipped to 3 ½ feet and holed the birdie putt for her first-ever tournament victory. Mielbrecht and Postillion made pars.

The victory ended Troyanovich’s season. Though she’s used up her collegiate eligibility at Tulane, she will return to that school to complete work on her Master’s degree before making a decision on whether or not to enter the pro golf ranks.

Troyanovich’s playing partner in the final round, Notre Dame sophomore Armstrong, had five birdies in a front-nine 32. She joined Symetra Tour player Brittany Johnston in finishing one stroke out of the playoff.

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Miller could become first high school champion

In its 17 previous stagings the Illinois Women’s Open has never had a high school champion. That could change today when Stevenson’s Stephanie Miller enters the final round as the co-leader.

Miller, 17, also has a great pairing for the shootout at Mistwood, in Romeoville. She’ll play with the other co-leader, Chicago amateur Nora Lucas. Lucas, who just graduated from Illinois, helped recruit Miller to Champaign. She verbally committed to the Illini three weeks ago and said Lucas was a big reason for her quick decision.

“I met her on my visit, and she was so nice,’’ said Miller, a senior-to-be at Stevenson who is playing in the IWO for the first time. The Illinois prep champion as a sophomore, she has sought tougher competition this year and recently qualified for next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur in Cleveland by shooting par golf over 36 holes at Blackberry Oaks, in Bristol.

Two professionals – Brittany Johnston and Colleen Cashman-McSween – are one stroke behind the IWO co-leaders. Johnston plays on the LPGA’s Symetra (formerly Futures) Tour and Cashman-McSween is assistant coach at Michigan. Miller has no fears about competing against older, more experienced players.

“I get to pick their brains and see what I can do to follow in their footsteps,’’ said Miller, whose father will be her caddie. A commercial pilot, he flew in from Paris on Wednesday to be on her bag.

Lucas won the Illinois Women’s Amateur in 2011 and highlighted her collegiate career by going a school-record 11-under-par en route to winning Wisconsin’s tournament as a senior. The IWO will conclude her summer season, and she will enter law school rather than turn pro.

`I’ll just play for fun. I’m excited to move ahead, just like (Miller) is excited (to look ahead to college),’’ said Lucas. “She should be. I had a great time at Illinois.’’

Miller had a chip-in in each of the first two rounds. She holed out from 61 yards for eagle at No. 10 on Wednesday and chipped for birdie at No. 7 on Thursday, when she carded a 73. Lucas highlighted her second round 72 with birdies at Nos. 12 (a 30-foot putt) and 15. Those two are the only players under par for 36 holes. Both are at 1-under 143 on the recently-renovated course.

Forty-one of the 91 starters survived the 36-hole cut. They’ll begin play at 7 a.m. today with the leaders going off at 10 a.m.

ILLINOIS OPEN: New pro Scodro is thriving on state Opens

Wednesday’s final round of the 63rd Illinois Open didn’t have the spectacular shots that were so abundant in Round 2, but it certainly had more drama.

Recent Notre Dame graduate Max Scodro and Eric Meierdierks, the tourney’s 2010 champion, waged a two-man duel all day long at The Glen Club in Glenview before Skodro took the title on the fifth hole of a playoff. It was the longest playoff in the tourney since Marty Schiene outlasted Gary Groh over six holes at Royal Fox in St. Charles 20 years ago.

Scodro was surprised to learn the playoff format called for three holes first, the winner to be decided by aggregate score, but it didn’t faze him after he had drilled a 12-foot birdie putt to pull even with Meierdierks at 10-under-par 206 for the regulation 54 holes.

Moments before Scodro made the big putt Meierdierks uncorked a 6-iron from 180 yards into the wind that stopped six feet from the cup. But he couldn’t convert for birdie, and that gave Skodro a chance to stay alive.

“I willed that one in,’’ said Scodro. “I couldn’t believe it went in, but I had a good feeling going into the playoff.’’

That feeling wasn’t so good on the first hole of sudden death, when Meierdierks’ 15-footer for the win hit the back of the cup.

“It was such a good putt. The majority of the ball was in the hole. I thought it was over,’’ said Scodro. So did Meierdierks.

“It looked like a fist-pumper,’’ admitted Meierdierks, who had to cut his celebration short. “It didn’t go. That’s golf.’’

The end came on their third playoff trip down No. 18. Meierdierks hit his drive in the left weeds for the third straight time couldn’t scramble for par. After Meierdierks settled for bogey Skodro needed two putts from 10 feet for his par and the win. He had no problem negotiating that.

Scodro, 22, turned pro after his college graduation last month and won the Arizona Open in his first start. State Opens seem to be his thing, and the Iowa Open is on his schedule for August.

Wednesday’s win was worth $17,000 to Scodro, who spent three years at Chicago’s Francis Parker Academy prior to attending Notre Dame. He’s been playing out of Olympia Fields Country Club, and that’s where the trophy he won on Wednesday is likely to go first.

“I had never met Max or heard of him,’’ said Meierdierks, a mini-tour veteran who will make his next start at the Colorado Open. “He’s got a lot of talent, and I enjoyed playing with him. I made a friend in him.’’

ILLINOIS OPEN: Back-to-back eagles, 263-yard hole-out ignite Round 2

Wilmette’s Eric Meierdierks shot 68s in both the first and second rounds of the 63rd Illinois Open at The Glen Club in Glenview. His second 18, on Tuesday, was the more notable on a day in which the weather was so hot players were allowed to wear shorts for only the fourth time in the history of the championship.

Meierdierks was the hottest, pulling off the extremely rare feat of posting back-to-back eagles. And he would have had three eagles in a five-hole stretch had a 12-foot putt dropped at The Glen’s 18th.

Starting his second round at the tenth hole, Meierdierks had his two-hole hot streak on No. 14 – a 534-yard par-5 – and No. 15 — a 358-yard par-4. Meierdierks put a 7-iron second shot to within 20 feet at the 14th and drove the green at the 15th before converting from 20 feet again.

“I’ve had two eagles in a round before, but this is the first time I’ve ever had them back-to-back,’’ said Meierdierks, who has been playing on the Gateway Tour in Arizona.

As good as he was, the shot of the day was the 263-yard 3-wood that amateur Shane Smith of Godfrey, IL., holed out for double eagle at No. 1 a few hours after Meierdierks finished.

The 68s put Meierdierks at 8-under-par 136 for 36 holes, good enough for a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Travis Johns and recent Notre Dame graduate Max Scodro entering today’s final 18.

Meierdierks and Johns, a teaching pro at both Glencoe and the Twin Lakes facility in Palatine, hope to regain their form from the 2010 season. That year Meierdierks won the Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods and Johns won five tournaments en route to becoming the Illinois PGA player-of-the-year. Last year Johns won only twice and Meierdierks missed the cut in his Illinois Open title defense.

“I like where my game’s at,’’ said Meierdierks, who overcame a one-stroke deficit after two rounds to win in 2010. “ We’ll see what happens’’

Meierdierks had a comfortable pairing his first two rounds when he played with Phil Arouca, the 2011 Illinois Open champion. Arouca, a Glen Club member, and Meierdierks are both 27-year old New Trier High School graduates.

Arouca enters the final round five strokes behind Meierdierks. He’s tied with, among others, Illinos coach Mike Small who is seeking a record-tying fifth Illinois Open title. Gary Pinns won the tournament five times, the last in 1990.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC: Johnson steals the thunder from Stricker this time

SILVIS, IL. – Steve Stricker’s bid for an historic four-peat at the John Deere Classic fizzled on Sunday, but the end result was almost as good for an emotionally-drained gallery at TPC Deere Run.

Zach Johnson, almost as popular as Stricker in the Quad Cities, got the win in one of the strangest playoffs in PGA Tour history. Johnson, considered the tourney’s hometown favorite since he grew up in Cedar Rapids, Ia., and has long been on the JDC’s board of directors, put both his drives on the two playoff holes in the same fairway bunker.

The first time he scrambled to make double bogey, but that wasn’t so bad because his opponent Troy Matteson did the same. Both players hit their approaches into a green-side pond, an indication neither was ready to win.

Johnson, winner of the 2007 Masters, changed that mindset the second time around when he put his second bunker shot – a 6-iron from 193 yards – to within six inches of the cup. Matteson missed a birdie try from 43 feet, then Johnson tapped in for birdie and his ninth win on the PGA Tour – but his first in 12 JDC appearances. He had a second and a tie for third in the last three years when Stricker was winning his three titles.

“I was shocked that I got into a playoff,’’ said Matteson, the solo leader three the first three rounds and 14 holes into the fourth. Then he made double bogey at the 15th to fall out of the lead before rolling in a 60-foot eagle putt at the 17th to set the stage for the playoff.

“All in all, you go into a playoff and lose to a shot like that after Zach put it in the bunker twice…..My hat’s off to Zach,’’ said Matteson.

“It just feels awesome. I can’t put it into words,’’ said Johnson, who won earlier this year at the Colonial National Invitation tourney in Texas and also finished second twice. This win came without his regular caddie. Damon Green, who had been on Johnson’s bag for 173 straight tournaments. Green spent the week in Michigan where he finished tied for 17th at the U.S. Senior Open.

Mike Bender, Johnson’s swing coach since 2000, carried in Green’s place but Green, thanks to a ride on Tom Watson’s plane, arrived in Moline in time to join Johnson on the direct flight to next week’s British Open. Matteson also made that charter flight, as his runner-up finish gave him the final exemption to the year’s third major championship.

Matteson, who had tried to qualify for the British nine previous times, will make his first appearance across the pond. Stricker will be there, too, undaunted that his bid to join golf legends Tom Morris Jr., Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods as the champion of a major professional tournament four years in a row came up short. He finished in a tie for fifth with Luke Guthrie, the University of Illinois product who finished with the day’s best round – a 64 – to conclude his second tournament as a pro.

“It was a lot of fun trying to do it,’’ said Stricker. “I don’t know if I was tired, but it just didn’t feel like something good was going to happen. It was weird. I never got any momentum.’’

But he was within one shot of then-leader Matteson, his playing partner in the final twosome, after 11 holes of the final round. Hooked drives at Nos. 14 and 15 led to bogeys that brought Stricker’s dreams of a four-peat to an end.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC: Stricker, Johnson both have a chance to win this time

SILVIS, IL. – As far as the multitudes of fans pouring into the John Deere Classic are concerned the leaderboard couldn’t be any better than this for today’s final round.

Steve Stricker, going for an historic fourth straight title, is in the final twosome. Iowa resident Zach Johnson, a long-time tournament board member who has spurred the JDC’s popularity among PGA Tour players, will be playing just in front of him.

The only trouble is, Troy Matteson owns a three\-stroke lead and shows no signs of giving it up in the lone PGA Tour stop in Illinois in 2012. He’ll be trying to become the 41-year old tourney’s first wire-to-wire winner since D.A. Webring in 1995, when the event was held at Oakwood Country Club instead of TPC Deere Run – a Weibring design that has been the home course since 2000.

Matteson, Stricker and Johnson all shot 66s on Saturday. Matteson is at 18-under-par 195 for 54 holes. Stricker is three shots behind and Johnson, tied with Brian Harman for third, is four back. Matteson won twice on the PGA Tour, both at the Frys.com Open, but that won’t help his popularity today.

“I’m not going to be the guy people are rooting for,’’ said Matteson. “I’m in a different position in life. (Stricker and Johnson) are Ryder Cuppers. People buy tickets to watch them. If Steve or Zach play good it does so much for the tournament. If Steve wins it’ll be a real big story, but I’ll be trying as hard as I can.’’

Stricker hopes to join four golf legends – Tom Morris Jr., Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods – as the only players able to win a major professional tournament four years in a row over the last 140 years. Being the pursuer rather than the leader might work in his advantage.

“I’ve been in the position Troy is in,’’ said Stricker. “The bigger the lead you have, the more you expect to win and there’s lots of guys chasing you. It’s hard to put it away sometimes. That what he’s got to deal with.’’

The Stricker mystique could also be a factor for Matteson.

“But I wouldn’t be intimidated by me,’’ said Stricker. “Troy’s been around long enough. He’ll go about his business. It’s in his hands, really.’’

Well, ITAL not END ITAL really. Stricker must play the front nine better. He’s 3-under-par on the front nine this week and 12-under on the back.

“It’s good to play with the leader and see what happens,’’ said Stricker. “I’ve got to get off to a strong start, though, and put some pressure on him.’’

Johnson has done wonders behind the scenes to help the tournament grow, but the former Masters champion has never won here. He was second to Stricker in 2009 and tied for third last year. Johnson has called the JDC “my fifth major’’ and has played in it 11 times – more than he has played in any other PGA Tour event.

“It’d be very special for me to win because I sit on the board and for what this tournament has done for me in the past,’’ said Johnson, who’s performed well this week without his regular caddie. Damon Green earned a spot in the U.S. Senior Open in Michigan, so Mike Bender – Johnson’s swing coach – is on his bag.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC: Stricker’s still within striking distance after Round 2

SILVIS, IL. – Steve Stricker is still very much in contention for an historic fourth straight win midway through the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, but the battle lines were more clearly drawn on Friday.

Stricker, hoping to become only the fifth player in professional golf’s last 140 years to win a major tournament four straight times, posted a 4-under-par 67 in the second round to close within three strokes of leader Troy Matteson. Matteson followed his 61 on Thursday with a 68.

So, entering the weekend rounds, Matteson is at 13-under-par 129, with Jeff Maggert and Brian Harman one stroke back. J.J. Henry, Gary Christian, Ricky Barnes and Robert Garrigus are another shot back and then comes Stricker, in a tie for eighth place. And Stricker’s satisfied to be that close.

“I’m three back; yesterday I was four back. I picked up a shot on the lead,’’ said Stricker, and there’s a long ways to go. I just have to keep doing my thing. One of those two rounds on Saturday or Sunday I’m going to have to put up a real low one and get right in there.’’

His predecessors with four straight wins in a tournament were Tom Morris Jr., Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods. Only Woods, who did it twice, compiled such a winning streak in the last 90 years. Morris strung British Open titles in the late 1800s. Both the Hagen and Sarazen streaks came in the 1920s.

Stricker started 71-61 when he won his first JDC in 2009. He opened 60-66 in 2010 and 66-64 last year.

In 2009 he was three shots off the lead after 36 holes. In 2010 he had a one-shot deficit and last year he was two-back entering the final 18. He’ll likely need to go a bit lower on the weekend rounds if he’s to four-peat.

Stricker finished 20-under-par for the 72 holes in 2009, 26-under in 2010 and 22-under last year. Though only 10-under for 36 now, and the players in front know he’s lurking.

“We expect big things out of him,’’ said Matteson. “Steve’s not a guy you want to see two or three shots behind you because out here he can shoot 60. And he probably will shoot 60 sometime this week. We’ll see how right I am on that, but Steve is an unbelievable player. It’s just a matter of time before a bunch of birdies come reeling off for him.’’

Matteson had his career-low round on Thursday and has an interesting connection to TPC Deere Run. His college roommate at Georgia Tech was Matt Weibring, the son of D.A. Webring who designed TPC Deere Run.

“He would always talk to us about how he designed the course and how he meant for it to play,’’ said Matteson. “I do have a little advantage in that sense.’’

Matteson hasn’t had a top-25 finish this season but he has two wins on the PGA Tour , at the Frys.com Open in 2006 and 2009, and he has two top-10s in six JDC appearances, the most recent in 2010.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC: Stricker within 4 of leader after Round 1

SILVIS, IL. –If Steve Stricker is to make golf history by winning the John Deere Classic for a fourth straight year he’ll have to pick up his game on the front nine of TPC Deere Run.

Stricker struggled badly on the front nine in Thursday’s opening round, the shot 6-under-par on the back side to post a 65. That put him in a tie for third place, four shots behind leader Troy Matteson.

“It was like the pro-am yesterday,’’ said Stricker. “I was 1-over on the front and lit it up (5-under) on the back. Today I didn’t feel too comfortable at the start. I hit it great on the range, but didn’t have the same rhythm when I was out there playing.’’

In today’s second round Stricker will start at No. 10 with a 7:30 a.m. tee time. He figures that should be a help, since the greens will be fresh and relatively free of ball and spike marks. Every little bit helps when you’re trying to put yourself into the select company awaiting Stricker.

Over the last 140 years of professional golf only four players have won a major tournament four straight years – Tom Morris Jr. (in the early days of the British Open in the late 1800s), Walter Hagen (PGA Championship), Gene Sarazen (Miami Open) and Tiger Woods, who did it twice (Bay Hill Invitational and Buick Invitational).

Woods was Stricker’s playing partner for the first two rounds of last week’s Greenbrier Classic. “He told me to get it done,’’ said Stricker, but that simple advice at least so far hasn’t been heeded.

A standing-room-only crowd greeted Stricker warmly when he arrived at the first tee and he was given a lengthy introduction.

“It reminded me of a time I played with Tom Watson at Phoenix many year ago,’’ said Stricker. “They ripped off all of his accomplishments, and then he hit it to a foot on the first hole and a foot at the second. This wasn’t anything like that.’’

Not by a long shot. Stricker’s first tee shot landed in a fairway bunker, he chunked a chip shot at No. 2, missed the green right at the par-3 third, hit a tree in the center of his fairway with his drive at No. 4 and then missed that green to the left. Then Stricker hit his drive at No. 5 into thick rough. Somehow he got through the front side at even par, then made birdies at Nos. 10 and 12 before holing out for eagle from 78 yards at the 14th.

“I couldn’t see the pin. I liked up with a divot in the bunker and hit it well, but you don’t expect to make those things,’’ he said. “It gave me a big momentum boost.’’

Stricker made birdies at the next hole as well as the par-5 17th coming in and saved par at the 18th after hitting his tee shot far left, close to where he uncorked his spectacular bunker shot that led to his win here last year..

The only players ahead of Stricker are Matteson, who made 10 birdies, and Ricky Barnes who shot 64. Barnes played early, Matteson late, like Stricker, and was aware of the low scoring likely at TPC Deere Run. He and his playing partners joked about that.

“We saw a guy (Barnes) with 7-under on the leaderboard and we said, why is it only 7-under?’’ said Matteson. “Then we saw Steve Stricker on the range and figured he was in the afternoon wave, so we figured the low one was still coming.’’

U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN: Choi ignites another Korean celebration

KOHLER, Wis. – There was a poignant moment midway through the final round of the 67th U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday.

Se Ri Pak, who won the tournament at Blackwolf Run in 1998, was finishing her round just as two other Korean golfers – Na Yeon Choi and Amy Yang – were making the turn for the back nine. Choi and Yang were first and second on the leaderboard while playing in the final twosome, and the greens at Nos. 9 and 18 were adjoining.

Pak wanted to give Choi an encouraging look, but through better of it.

“I knew she was focused, and I didn’t want her to lose her focus,’’ said Pak. “So I tried not to give her a look, but she had been there many times. She had already won five times (on the Ladies PGA Tour).’’

When their paths crossed Pak was finishing off a 71, which eventually got her into a tie for ninth place. Choi had maintained the six-stroke lead on Yang that she had at the start of the round. Their status at the top of the leaderboard never changed, though Choi’s lead dwindled.

In the end the Korean domination of the biggest championship in women’s golf continued. Choi, 24, became the fifth Korean player to win the title in the last eight years and – for the second straight year – Korean players finished one-two. Paula Creamer, the top American, tied for seventh.

“Last year a couple of Koreans went to a playoff,’’ recalled Pak of the duel in which So Yeon Ryu defeated Hee Kyung Seo. “Again (two Koreans) played together in the last round. I’m really happy to see that. I’m very proud of both of them.’’

Choi and Yang, 22, continued the tradition that Pak started 14 years ago. They took charge of the competition in Saturday’s third round when Choi shot a tournament third-round record-tying 65 to open a six-stroke lead.

No golfer had ever come from six back to win the Women’s Open, and Yang couldn’t do it, either. Choi maintained the six-shot lead until passing Pak at the turn. Whether their brief, silent encounter affected her she wasn’t saying, but pressure did creep in.

“I wasn’t nervous at all. I was calm on the front nine,’’ said Choi. “I had one missed shot on 10 tee box and got a triple bogey.’’

That brought Yang within twi shots, but Choi recovered with a birdie at No. 11, saved par after a tee shot into high grass at No. 12 and got a big break at the 13th when her tee shot bounced off high rocks into a safe place.

From there it was easy. Choi finished with a 73 for 7-under-par 281. Yang carded 71 and 3-under 285. They were the class of the field on a course that was 400 yards longer than it was when Pak won her title in a 20-hole playoff. The scoring was much better than it was for Pak’s storied run to the title. Six-over-par golf was good enough when Pak won.

“I just can’t believe this,’’ said Choi, who added Sunday’s $585,000 first prize to the $6 million she earned since joining the LPGA in 2008. “Maybe tomorrow I will feel it – when I get to Korea.’’

After Pak the Korean winners of the U.S. Women’s Open included Birdie Kim (2005), Inbee Park (2008), Eun-Hee Ji (2009) and Ryu. Choi’s victory was more special, though, because it came on the same course on which Pak won.

“It was like 14 years ago when Se Ri won,’’ said Choi. “I watched it, and I call her legend. She inspired all the Korean players.’’