For Shin, each win is unforgettable
Jiyai Shin dedicates each one of her victories - make that five in 11 months - to her mother.
The 21-year-old South Korean, whose mother was killed in a car crash in 2004, shot a 1-under-par 71 yesterday in Pittsford, N.Y., to win the Wegmans LPGA by seven strokes. It was the biggest margin of victory at Locust Hill since Patty Sheehan beat Nancy Lopez by nine strokes in 1992.
“I have my mother’s picture in my course book,’’ Shin said proudly after carding a 17-under 271 total to pick up a $300,000 prize that vaulted her to the top of the money list with $1 million.
Kristy McPherson and Yani Tseng each shot a 66, the day’s best score, to surge into a second-place tie at 10 under. One behind were Mika Miyazato and rookies Haeji Kang and Stacy Lewis.
Champions - Lonnie Nielsen shot a 9-under 63, vaulting past second-round leader Fred Funk to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y., by three shots on the day before his 56th birthday.
Trailing Funk by three shots entering the day, Nielsen started with four birdies and an eagle and pulled away on the back side.
Japan - Ryo Ishikawa, 17, closed with a 1-over 73 to win the Mizuno Open in Tokyo and qualify for the British Open next month.
He took a quintuple-bogey 9 on No. 12, then rebounded with a chip-in for eagle on No. 16. He closed out his round with a birdie to finish at 13-under 275, three shots ahead of David Smail. 