DELAY DOESN'T HOLD BACK HAN SOUTH KOREAN WINS ON EXTRA DAY.Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer RANCHO PALOS VERDES Rancho Pal·os Ver·des A city of southern California on a channel of the Pacific Ocean west of Long Beach. Population: 42,100. - Hee-Won Han Hee-Won Han (Korean 한희원) (born 10 June 1978 in Seoul) is a South Korean golfer. She attended Ryukoku University and turned professional in 1998. Han currently plays on the United States LPGA Tour. started out Monday the way she had played her previous two full rounds at the Office Depot Championship The Office Depot Championship was an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour. It took place every year from 1997 through 2005 at various sites in the South Carolina and in the Los Angeles area. - pedal to the metal. The 27-year-old fourth-year LPGA LPGA abbr. Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour player from Seoul, South Korea, birdied her first two holes to forge a quick three-stroke lead, added another birdie four holes later and won by two strokes over fellow South Korean Soo-Yun Kang Soo-Yun Kang (Korean 강수연; born March 15, 1976) is a female golfer in the LPGA. She is often referred to as the "Fashion Model of the Fairways" for her model-like physique and clothing. Kang was born in Seoul, South Korea. at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Han, who opened play with a 65 that wound up sharing low round of the tournament, added a 68 in the fog- and wind-delayed second round that took parts of two days, then finished with another 68 Monday in another round spread over two days. Catriona Matthew Catriona Matthew (née Lambert) (born 25 August 1969) is a Scottish professional golfer who plays mainly on the U.S. based LPGA Tour and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour. (68) took third at 205, Natalie Gulbis Natalie Anne Gulbis (born January 7, 1983) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S. based LPGA Tour. Golf career She started finding interest in the game at the early age of 4. By the time she was 7 years old she had won her first tournament. (71) and Karine Icher Karine Icher (born 26 January 1979) is a French professional golfer who plays mainly on the U.S. based LPGA Tour and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour. Amateur career Karine Icher had a successful amateur career. (73) shared fourth at 206, and second-round co-leader Jeong Jang (74) and former Pepperdine University golfer Katherine Hill (69) shared sixth at 207, a shot ahead of Marisa Baena (71-208). Han, who led or shared the lead at the conclusion of every round, had to return for the final 10 holes of her third round Monday morning and secured her fourth tour victory by negotiating that stretch bogey-free. She had absorbed her only final-round bogey - and just her third of the tournament - Sunday in cold and windy weather before darkness halted play with all 79 cut survivors on the course. ``I just hit the fairway and the green,'' said Han, whose accuracy helped her avoid the bad bounces that hurt many of her competitors on the scenic, oceanside course. ``She did a great job,'' said Kang (71-66-66-203), who had the best score of the final round, then treated her former teammate on the South Korean national team to a celebratory spray of champagne on the 18th green following Han's closing par. ``We are all very close friends,'' Kang said with the help of translation from her sister, Hyun-Jung, ``So like the time when I won (at the Safeway Classic in August, for her first tour victory), they did it for me. So I did it for her.'' Han's 12-under-par total of 201 earned her $195,000 and her fourth tour victory in the Office Depot's first appearance at Trump National. The annual Los Angeles-area LPGA Tour event was played the past three years at El Caballero cab·al·le·ro n. pl. cab·al·le·ros 1. A Spanish gentleman; a cavalier. 2. A man who is skilled in riding and managing horses; a horseman. Country Club in Tarzana. Annika Sorenstam, who won the past two Office Depot titles at Tarzana's El Caballero Country Club, never challenged at Trump National, finishing tied for ninth at 209 after a closing 70. The 63-time LPGA Tour winner exited with an appreciation of the course's beauty while also frustrated by a slow pace of play that contributed to tournament rounds being carried over three consecutive days because of darkness. ``I've been giving this some thought,'' she said. ``I think logistically this course is not set up for a competition like this, and especially for the fans. It's very difficult to walk. ``The greens today, they were great, they were smooth, and the views are fantastic. There's a lot of positives. But it's very tough to put, I think, a professional golf tournament - especially stroke play - when you have a course like this. There's fairway, and there's about six feet of rough and then there's out of bounds, pretty much, so it makes it pretty difficult.'' Han solved the difficulty mostly by avoiding it during a tournament in which she said she focused on hitting fairways and greens. ``Just kept thinking that,'' Han said, ``because this course is pretty undulated and the fairways are undulated. That's why it worked for me this week.'' Dave Shelburne, (818) 713-3609 dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Hee-Won Han of South Korea holds up the trophy she received for winning the LPGA Office Depot Championship. Francis Specker/Associated Press |
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