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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, May 24, 2010

Yoo makes breakthrough



Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Sun Young Yoo jumps into the arms of her caddie, Kurt Kowaluk, after beating Angela Stanford in the final.

RICH SCHULTZ | Associated Press

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GLADSTONE, N.J. — Sun Young Yoo arrived at stately Hamilton Farm with modest expectations. She left with a breakthrough victory.

The 23-year-old South Korean player won the Sybase Match Play Championship yesterday for her first LPGA Tour title, beating Angela Stanford, 3 and 1, after dispatching top-seeded Jiyai Shin in the morning semifinals.

"My goal was to get past the first two days," Yoo said. "I did a lot better."

And she did it from the toughest quarter of the 64-player draw, beating No. 32 Karen Stupples, No. 5 Cristie Kerr, No. 12 Song-Hee Kim and No. 4 Yani Tseng before finishing off Shin, 2 and 1, and No. 10 Stanford.

"It was tough," said Yoo, seeded 28th. "I tried to be a little more aggressive out there because it's match play. I think it worked out pretty good."

Patiently working her way around the hilly course on a cloudy, muggy afternoon, Yoo won the 13th and 14th holes with pars to take a 1-up lead.

She doubled the advantage on the par-3 16th with her first birdie of the match, holing a 15-footer after Stanford missed her 20-foot birdie try.

The match ended on the par-4 17th when Stanford missed her birdie putt and conceded Yoo's birdie.

PGA TOUR

DAY WINS NELSON; SPIETH FALLS TO 16TH

IRVING, Texas — Jason Day nearly dropped out of the Byron Nelson Championship before it began. He wound up winning the tournament — even though most folks likely will remember Jordan Spieth as the big winner.

Day fought through a rocky final round for a 2-over 72, but it was good enough to give the 22-year-old Australian the first win of his PGA Tour career.

Still, the 2010 Nelson will go down for the remarkable Tour debut by Spieth, a 16-year-old junior at a local high school.

Spieth was within three shots of the lead on the final nine holes, but dropped back into a tie for 16th. He shot a 2-over 72 in the final round, his highest score of the tournament. His 4-under 276 was six strokes behind Day.

Spieth, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, said: "It was awesome ... the entire round, the entire week. Starting the week, I definitely would've taken a top-20, in a heartbeat."

ELSEWHERE

Nationwide Tour: Journeyman golfer John Riegger has been declared the winner of the Rex Hospital Classic at Raleigh, N.C., with a 54-hole total of 20-under 193 when the tournament was called due to rain.

Riegger, 46, started the final round, which was delayed at the start by 3 hours due to heavy morning rains. The tournament was suspended at 1:45 p.m.

Tour director Jim Duncan canceled the final round before the last three groups teed off.

European Tour: Simon Khan won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, England, by a stroke, shooting a 5-under 66 to come from seven strokes back and capture a tournament the Englishman played in only after receiving a late invitation.

Fredrik Andersson Hed of Sweden (67) and Luke Donald of England (71) tied for second at 5-under 279, one shot back of Khan.

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