From the moment Ji Young Oh had a hole-in-one in Thursday’s first round, the 20-year-old South Korean knew she could win the Sybase Classic. And slowly, inexorably — like a well-oiled machine — she played round after round of mistake-free golf until she finally claimed it.
On a cool, windy day that wreaked havoc with nearly every other contender at the Upper Montclair Country Club, Oh carded a 2-under-par 70 to win her second LPGA title and $300,000. She pulled away to finish the 72-hole event at 14-under and win by four strokes over fast-fading Suzann Pettersen of Norway.
“At State Farm [her first win], I really didn’t expect to win. The opportunity kind of presented itself,” said Oh. “But this tournament . . . from the first day when I made a hole-in-one, I knew the trophy was waiting for me. I needed to do everything in my power to win this tournament. I really wanted it badly, and there was no way I wasn’t going to get it.”
Oh started the final round tied on top with Pettersen, one shot ahead of Brittany Lincicome and three strokes clear of Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer. They finished tied for third at 8-under, while Lincicome faded with a 5-over 77 to finish 6-under and tied for sixth.
Lincicome, a Florida native whose head and ears were wrapped to protect her from the chill, said she knew she was in trouble right from the first hole when she missed a one-foot birdie putt. She also bogeyed the second hole.
“I expected to play good golf and not shoot a hundred,” Lincicome joked wanly. “Right out of the gate, the first hole missing a short one. Not a good confidence booster. I missed two one-footers in the first five holes, pretty disappointing. I came out of the box not playing well. It’s hard to keep your emotions in check.”
But Oh did.
Paired with the long driving Pettersen and Lincicome, she was 40 yards shorter off the tee but stayed within herself. Despite three-putting on the eighth hole — “I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, she’s human!’ ” Lincicome said — Oh missed just two fairways.
After missing the fairway on nine, she sank an 18-footer that rattled in off the flagpole to save par. She was still tied with Pettersen until the 12th, a tricky, 408-yard dogleg that decided the event.
Wie, who had already hit into the water on five, did it again at 12 and carded a double bogey. Pettersen bogeyed as well to give Oh the lead. Pettersen missed birdie putts on the next four holes –and a 2-footer on No. 17 — and that clinched it.
“I just couldn’t get the round going,” said Wie, 19, who putted well but rued missing a shot at her first LPGA victory. “Yeah, I could’ve. I putted well, and I drove the ball well. If I could’ve hit a couple of irons better, it would’ve been a different story.”