Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| South Korea's Hur Mi-jung poses with the trophy after winning the Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, Sunday. Yonhap |
Powered by four straight birdies, South Korean veteran Hur Mi-jung has captured her first LPGA title in nearly five years in Scotland.
Hur rallied from a one-shot deficit to take the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open on Sunday (local time). She carded a five-under 66 for a four-round total of 20-under 264, beating fellow South Korean Lee Jeong-eun and Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand by four shots.
Hur's last-day charge at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, included six birdies, including four in a row starting at the par-3 ninth.
This was Hur's third LPGA victory but first since the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in September 2014.
Hur, 29, becomes the seventh different South Korean to win on the LPGA Tour in 2019. They have combined for 11 titles this year, including three majors.
Hur said the key to her victory was keeping her focus on enjoying her round without worrying about the score.
"I was just happy to be playing in the final group today," she said. "I tried not to look at the leaderboards, though it was difficult because there were so many of them. I wanted to concentrate on one shot at a time."
Hur began the rainy final round at 15-under, tied for second place with Lee and one behind the leader, Jutanugarn.
The three played together in the final group, with two other South Koreans, Lee Mi-hyang (12-under) and Chella Choi (10-under), in a group ahead.
Hur, Jutanugarn, Lee Jeong-eun and Lee Mi-hyang were all tied for the lead at one point, before Hur took control with her string of birdies starting at the ninth hole.
Lee Mi-hyang and Lee Jeong-eun dropped out of contention with bogeys at the 10th and the 11th, respectively, while Jutanugarn remained in the hunt, one stroke back of Hur, down the stretch.
Jutanugarn blinked by missing a short par putt at the par-3 15th, and Hur opened up a three-shot lead over the Thai player with a birdie at the 16th.
Hur punctuated her long-awaited win with a birdie at the 18th.
"I hope I'll become more confident after this victory," Hur said. "I won't get complacent just because I won this week. I'll continue to try hard from here and on." (Yonhap)
