South Korea’s Jin winss weather-hiter-hit Portlandd Classic
Jin capped a 69 with a curling birdie put on the 18th hole to capture the Portland Classic, which was shortened to 54 hole due to poor weather. The South Korean finished with a 11-under 205 total to win by a dominating four strokes
Jin Young Ko won the rain-shortened Cambia Portland Classic on Sunday for her second victory in her last three LPGA Tour starts.
Making her first start since the Tokyo Olympics, the second-round South Korean player closed with a bogey-free 3-under 69 at Oregon Golf Club for a four-stroke victory over Jeongeun Lee and Su Oh. Ko finished at 11-under 205.
Play was washed out Saturday because of rain and the event was cut from 72 to 54 holes. Ko took the lead Friday with a 67.
“I really wanted to play yesterday, but we couldn’t play,” Ko said. “I tried to make a no bogey-free round today, but I made it. I had a lot of missed shots and I had a lot of missed chipping or something, so I had to make great par saves, but I made it.
She took a break ater the Olympics, skipping the major Women’s British Open.
“I spent a great time in Korea ater the Olympics, maybe over six or seven weeks,” Ko said. “I had a lot of practice with my same coach and I had a lot of workouts, three times or four times each week.”
Ko also won the Volunteers of America Classic in Texas in early July. The two-time major champion has nine LPGA Tour victories.
Lee and Oh each shot 69. Perrine Delacour was fourth at 5 under ater a 69. Paty Tavatanakit (69) was 4 under with Esther Henseleit (70) and Carlota Ciganda (73).
Gemma Dryburgh, a stroke behind Ko entering the round, had a 76 to drop into a tie for eighth at 3 under.
The tournament was shited from Edgewater Country Club to Oregon Golf Club in June because of safety concerns about a homeless encampment bordering Edgewater.
“This course was really amazing - fairways and greens are really perfect,” Ko said.
HOMA SHINES: Max Homa roared to the finish on Sunday with an eagle and three birdies on the back nine to fire a 65 and capture the PGA Tour’s season-opening Fortinet Championship in Napa, California.
Two of Homa’s three PGA wins have come in his home state of California. Homa atended Valencia High School just outside of Los Angeles and then spent four years on the University of California Berkeley golf team.
“I went to school here. I love the state of California,” Homa said.
Homa won at the Riviera Country Club earlier this year in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades. His first career win was in 2019 at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.
Homa began his blistering back nine rally by holing out from the rough from 95 yards on the par-four 12th and then followed it up with a birdie on the next hole.
He tapped in for another birdie on the par-five 16th and ran in an 18-footer on the par-four 17th. He parred the par-five 18th to finish at 19-under 269 and post a one-shot win over fellow Californian Maverick Mcnealy.
Ater a one-week break, the PGA Tour kicked off the 2021-22 season with The Fortinet Championship. The Tour will take a back seat this week to the Ryder Cup Championship which begins on Thursday.
Homa said failing to make the US Ryder Cup team motivated him to come from behind on Sunday and win.
“I only had two weeks off, but with disappointment comes a lot of motivation, and not making East Lake hurt, and not making the Ryder Cup team hurt,” he said.
“The last two weeks I worked my tail off. So it’s fun to get win in front of a bunch of friends and family.”
Homa also birdied three of the last four holes on the front nine while playing in the group in front of third round co-leader Mcnealy.
Mcnealy finished just one stroke back in second with a 68. Mcnealy had a three-shot lead with seven holes let but couldn’t hold off Homa.
“It was a great week, I learned a lot,” Mcnealy said. “I loved the way I was feeling. I loved the way I managed myself.”