WILLIAMSBURG: Lizette Salas claimed her first win on the LPGA Tour by closing with an even-par 71 yesterday to win the Kingsmill Championship by four shots.
The 24-year-old American finished 72 holes on 13-under-par 271 at the Kingsmill course.
Salas was coming off a missed cut two weeks ago at the North Texas Shootout.
Australian Sarah Jane Smith matched the low round of the day with a five-under 66 to finish second, her best LPGA finish.
She shared second place at 275 by American Lexi Thompson (69) and former world number one Tseng Ya-Ni (69).
South Korean Ryu So-Yeon (69) and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (71) shared fifth place at eight-under 276. Thidapa Suwannapura of Thailand shot two-under 69 to grab seventh at seven-under 277.
Last year’s winner, American Cristie Kerr, stumbled to a one-over 72 for the second consecutive round. Kerr shared 29th place at two-under 282.
New Zealand teen Lydia Ko and American Stacy Lewis each missed a chance to move into the world number one ranking.Meanwhile, Asian Tour number one Kiradech Aphibarnrat has taken an unusual path as he bids to qualify for the US Open next month -- he’s been living as a monk.
The world number 83 from Thailand needs to break into the top 60 by June 9 to play in the year’s second major and he swapped his golfing attire for a robe at the Buddhist Wat Veerachoti Thamaram temple, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Bangkok last week.
The 24-year-old Kiradech spent seven days at the temple where he shaved his head and eyebrows, woke up at 4.30am, meditated, walked bare-footed for several kilometres to gather food, cleaned the temple grounds and ate just one meal a day.
“In Thai culture, you have to do this once in your lifetime when you’re aged between 21 to 25. It is a mark of respect to our parents,” Kiradech said in a statement released by the Asian Tour.
“This was a good experience for me,” added the reigning Asian Tour order of merit champion.
“I feel like I’ve grown older in the past week and in some strange way.” AFP
