Once again, the par-5 18th hole at Hamilton Farm GC proved to be the difference in a match at the LPGA’s Sybase Match Play Championship. On Sunday evening, it determined the champion.
With a curling birdie putt at the last hole of her match against Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen won the final match 1 Up to take the championship in New Jersey.
The win is the first in some 20 months for Pettersen, dating back to the ’09 Canadian Women’s Open. The Norwegian, whose short game has continually hampered her despite an outstanding game from tee to green, never trailed in her final match against Kerr but certainly was not assured a win until the absolute last shot. The weight of it all caused Pettersen to look up into the sky when the putt dropped, shortly after falling to her knees at the realization of her victory.
Typically, getting to the 18th hole in match play is a bad sign. For Pettersen, it was a sign of certain victory. In four matches, she had a match go to the last hole. Every time, she made birdie four, won the hole and the match.
Pettersen’s win marks the third time a player born in Europe has won on the LPGA in their last four events.
Angela Stanford, who lost the final two holes in the morning semifinal against Kerr, then was thrashed in the consolation match against Na Yeon Choi. She lost 4 & 3 in a match that was never really close. Stanford was runner-up in this event in 2010.
Curiously, it was the putter that acted up for Kerr instead. Normally one of the steadiest on the LPGA with the flat stick, Kerr missed four short putts to win holes which could have turned her fortune.
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