SEI-YOUNG MAKES HISTORY WITH 31-UNDER AT THORNBERRY CREEK
Sei-young is first player to card a 31-under in LPGA history
ONEIDA: Kim Seiyoung became the first player in LPGA Tour history to go lower than 30under in a performance so dominant in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic that she now has the Tour scoring records all to herself.
Seiyoung closed with a sevenunder 65 on Sunday for a nineshot victory, finishing at 31under 257 to break by four shots the record she had shared with Annika Sorenstam. Seiyoung won the 2016 Founders Cup at 27under, while Sorenstam won the 2001 Standard Register Ping at 27under, the tournament Sorenstam shot 59.
Seiyoung also set the 72hole scoring record at 257, finishing with three straight pars to break the mark by one shot.
The only blemish for Seiyoung all week at Thornberry Creek at Oneida was a double bogey in the second round on Friday. She had 31 birdies and one eagle, another record for most subpar holes in a tournament. Seiyoung hit 67 out of 72 greens in regulation.
Seiyoung tied another Sorenstam record when she was 24under through 54 holes.
The South Korea reached 28under with a tapin birdie on the parfive ninth. She began the back nine with another birdie when her wedge from about 100 yards stopped a few feet from the hole, and she became the first to reach 30under by making a 12foot birdie putt on the parthree 12th.
The 25yearold Seiyoung won by five shots over Lydia Ko when she shot 27under in the Founders Cup two years ago. Sorenstam won by two shots over Pak Seri when she shot her 27under at Moon Valley at a tournament that no longer exists.
No one had a chance on Sunday. Seiyoung began the final round with an eightshot lead and was close to flawless.
Amy Yang, who played with Seiyoung in the final round, made eagle on No. 3 to get within six shots. She couldn’t keep pace, however, and made a double bogey on the parfive 15th by hitting one shot in the water and another in a hazard.
Carlota Ciganda of Spain lost a ball and made double bogey on the 18th hole for a 64 to finish alone in second, nine shots behind. Yang, with a birdie on the final hole for a 68, tied for third at 20 under with Emma Talley and Anna Nordqvist, who each had a 67.
For all the birdies, Seiyoung set the LPGA Tour record with a par on the final hole to finish at 257. Park Heeyoung won a playoff after she and Angela Stanford each finished at 258 in the Manulife Classic in Canada in 2013 (par 71), while Karen Stupples shot 258 at the Welch’sFry’s Championship in Arizona in 2004 (par 70).
Seiyoung won for the first time this year and joined Brooke Henderson as the only players on the LPGA Tour with at least one victory in each of the last four seasons.