Kim Bests Lewis

Planet Golf — 23 March 2015 by Candace Oehler

Rookie Hyo Joo Kim, who won the 2014 Evian Championship prior to officially joining the LPGA, withstood strong charges from Stacy Lewis and Ilhee Lee to win the 2015 JBTC Founders Cup. Kim, who is sits at number 8 in the Rolex World Rankings, began the day at -16, and carded seven birdies and two bogies. The 19-year old needed two putts for the win, but birdied the 18^th to finish at -21. Lewis, meanwhile, ended the tournament with a disappointing bogey on the 18^th and, after getting within one shot of the lead, finished in second, three shots back.

The best round of the day belonged to Anna Norquist, whose 8-under moved her up to T6 (-13).

Notables:

Rookie Alison Lee, whose 63 tied the course record on Saturday, struggled on Sunday, finishing at +2 for the day, in a T-24, -11 finish. Lee won the Pac-12 title last year as a UCLA freshman and was co-medalist at Q-school.

Second year pro Kim Kaufman, who held the 36-hole lead, ended the day where she began, at -13 (T13).

World number 1 Lydia Ko was three-under for the day and finished in a tie for 6^th. Ko, a seven-time winner with two victories this season has now finished in the top seven six consecutive events.

Notes:

UW grad Sadena Parks, a 2015 LPGA Rookie, missed the cut but stayed around Saturday and was spotted following the Karrie Webb group. Parks, who won two events on the Symetra Tour, competed on the 2013 Big Break Florida that was won by fellow Symetra Tour graduate Jackie Stoeltin She is the fifth African American player to play full-time on the LPGA Tour.

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About Author

Candace Oehler

Candace Oehler’s deep dive into sports media began several decades ago when she won a trip from Seattle to Mariners spring training in Arizona. Noting that non-English-speaking Latino ball players received little, if any, media coverage, she fluently/en español became a pioneer in Spanish sports media, and eventually became known affectionately throughout the Latino MLB community as “La Veterana.” Candace has written for team publications and MLB.com; hosted her own radio show on several Spanish-language stations; served as producer/reporter/engineer for the Mariners’ inaugural season of Spanish radio broadcasts; and has been a reporter for MLB Network Radio the past 10 years. She was invited to Venezuela by future Hall-of-Fame shortstop Omar Vizquel to cover rebuilding efforts and accomplishments of his charitable foundation following the devastating 1999 mudslides; worked in Puerto Rico for former Major Leaguers Joey Cora and Carlos Baerga managing fundraising events; and was the only female in the raucous locker room when the hometown favorite Licey Tigers won the 2004 Caribbean World Series in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Candace was introduced to the game of golf in 1992 by members of Seattle’s historic Fir State Golf Club, who had approached her to manage their (then) little fundraising tournament hosted by a shy, gangly 15-year old Tiger Woods. Candace co-managed the annual event for nearly 20 years, working with hosts that included Ken Griffey, Sr., Birdie Griffey, Mike Cameron, Nate McMillan, Warren Moon, and Dale Ellis. She became secretary of the club and the Fir State Junior Golf Foundation, and got totally, completely hooked on golf, learning to play on a set of Redbirds given to her by the club (apparently they considered her mother’s Patty Bergs a bit antiquated). She has since traded up to another set of Redbirds and a much more user-friendly golf environment in Arizona. And, once a prolonged stint on the DL is over, she can’t wait to get back on the course and continue lowering her current 21-handicap to ….?