Birdie hands Sun-hyun victory in 36-hole Texas Classic

THE COLONY ( Texas): Park Sunghyun sprinted to the finish in the weather-abbreviated LPGA Texas Classic, chipping in for birdie from the behind the green on the 18th hole to close out a five-under 66 in the second and final round, good for a one-shot victory.

The sweet-swinging 24-year-old South Korean, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 5, ended up needing that chip to drop to survive a late charge by Lindy Duncan, who birdied her final three holes for a 64, the low round of the tournament on Sunday.

Sung-hyun finished with a tworound total of 11-under 131 for her third victory and first since last season, when she was named Rookie of the Year and shared the Player of the Year award with Ryu So-yeon. She became the 11th winner in 11 tournaments on the LPGA Tour this year.

The event was reduced from 72 holes to 36 after Thursday’s round was cancelled and Friday’s play was delayed by eight hours because of rain. Some players went 35 holes on Saturday and returned to play one hole on Sunday.

Because of the rain delays and stop-and-start nature of the tournament, Sung-hyun was part of a fiveway tie for the lead going into the final round.

She finished 90 minutes before the tournament ended because groupings were not changed from the opening round.

Rookie Yu Liu of China closed with a 66 and finished third, two shots back. Ariya Jutanugarn (66) and Kim Sei-Young (67) were another shot behind.

Sun-hyun bogeyed the par-four first hole and then played the rest of the front nine in five-under, including an eagle on the par-five fourth.

She shot one-under on the back nine and then had to wait on Duncan, who could have forced a playoff by holing her second shot on the par-four ninth.