After the back-and-forth drama that unfolded in Sunday’s 2 1/2 hours of extra golf, Monday’s continuation lasted all of 17 minutes. And the ending defined anti-climactic.
After Paula Creamer missed a 5-foot putt for par on the ninth sudden-death playoff hole, Jiyai Shin tapped in from about 12 inches to win the Kingsmill Championship on a cool Monday morning. The two had finished regulation Sunday at 16-under, and they were still even after eight playoff holes when play was suspended because of darkness.
Shin won her ninth event on the LPGA Tour, her first since the 2010 Mizuno Classic. The $195,000 winner’s check moves the 24-year-old South Korean past the $5 million mark for her career.
“This is the first time I’ve done an interview on Monday,” Shin laughed as she met with the media. “It was really tough to win. Last night took so long and I was really tired. And when I came this morning, I was still tired.
“I had a hand operation in June, and after that for two months I didn’t play. So I told myself it would take a really long time to get a win. But I’m really happy it came so quick.”
With the playoff starting on the par-4 No. 16, Creamer three-putted from 30 feet. But she nearly knocked in the first for a birdie that would have won the championship. With an up-and-over hill in front of her, Creamer went for it. But her putt missed by an inch to the right and left her five feet coming back.
“I thought I hit a great putt, the first one,” she said. “But (the green) was so much faster than the practice putting green. Colin (Cann), my caddie, and I were talking that maybe it was because the practice green was in the shade and this was more exposed to the sun. My speed has been pretty good all week, but that one went about five and a half feet by.”
Shin had a shorter putt for birdie from about 15 feet, but she misread it. Creamer than needed to make her par putt to move on to the 17th hole, but the ball lipped out.
“She’s such a great putter,” Shin said. “I was just looking forward to the next hole, but when she missed I just (thought), ‘Oh, wow.’ I was left with this 1-foot putt, but it felt too long for me. I was really nervous with it.”
Nine holes is the longest playoff in LPGA history involving two players. In 1972, three players went to a 10-hole playoff in the Corpus Christi Open.
It was the second LPGA event at Kingsmill to go to playoff. In 2007, Suzann Pettersen and Jee Young Lee needed three playoff holes to decide a winner. That one also came down to a mistake. Lee missed a 2-foot putt for par.
This time, it was a match-play battle between two proven winners who were looking for their first win on the Tour since 2010. Creamer could have wrapped it up in regulation with a 5-foot putt for par on No. 18. Just like she could have forced a 10th playoff hole with a 5-footer Monday morning.
“We’re so hungry for the win,” Shin said. “That’s why I really wanted and was really waiting for this win, for the trophy. That’s why I know her feeling, too.
Shin and Creamer faced a unique situation in Monday’s continuation. The Women’s British Open begins Thursday, and both had planned to be on an airplane Sunday night. But with an extra day needed, both were scheduled to leave for the U.K. later Monday.
“I look forward to the British Open next week,” Shin said. “This week.”
