VIENNA, Ohio -- Mi Hyun Kim came up big against Kelly Robbins in the final round of the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic.
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| Mi Hyun Kim celebrates Sunday's victory at Squaw Creek Country Club. (AP) |
The 25-year-old South Korean, charitably listed at 5-foot-1, hit a 7-wood to 4 feet on the 17th hole Sunday to set up the deciding birdie in her one-stroke victory over the 5-9 Robbins.
"In the morning, I saw the newspaper and saw Kelly and me standing together," Kim said. "I didn't know I was that short."
Kim finished with a 3-under-par 69 for a 14-under 202 total, and Robbins closed with a 71.
"Any time you can finish second, you've hit a lot of shots well," Robbins said. "But I was licking my chops hoping for something better."
Kim, at a two-club disadvantage on almost every approach shot as she matched Robbins stroke for stroke, said she didn't enjoy what turned out to be a match-play showdown.
"No, because she's a very long player," Kim said. "Every time she was playing a short iron, I'd have to hit a long iron or a fairway wood."
As it turned out, that is one of Kim's biggest strengths.
Robbins, trying to end an 82-tournament losing streak, started the day with a one-shot lead over Kim and was up by two strokes as both players sized up their second shots from the middle of the 11th fairway.
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| Mi Hyun Kim posted 15 birdies throughout the week at the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic. (AP) |
But Robbins hit a sand wedge fat into the greenside bunker at the par-4 hole, while Kim's second shot ended up just 2 feet from the pin. Robbins was unable to get up and down from the sand and picked up a bogey, while Kim made her birdie putt to pull even at 13 under.
"A two-shot swing is a lot, but I wasn't concerned," Robbins said. "We were still even. I was like, 'OK, game on. No more goofing off. Let's see what we can do.'"
They traded pars on the next five holes until Kim's shot from 170 yards out put her in easy range for a birdie at the 17th.
"I knew the way things were going for both of us that one or two shots were going to make the difference," Robbins said. "Neither of us were doing too much out there -- until Kimmy hit one close."
Kim said she benefited from having hit the same shot from the same spot in the fairway all three days. She parred the hole the first two times.
"Before that second shot I had a lot of confidence," Kim said. "I knew how I had to hit the ball. Every time my shot had hooked back a little because I was on a little hill. I aimed a little to the right side of the pin."
Both players drove down the heart of the 18th fairway, with Kim hitting her 5-wood second shot pin high and 15 feet away. Robbins hooked a 7-iron into the gallery left of the green and then bumped a shot that came to a stop less than a foot from the hole.
Kim ran her birdie putt 3 feet past the hole but nailed the comebacker for her first win of the year.
"I hit a very strong first putt," Kim said with a smile. "I didn't know I was that strong. I was a little nervous."
The victory -- worth $150,000 -- was the fourth for Kim in as many years. Kim, who opened with rounds of 65 and 68, came into the Giant Eagle fifth on the tour money list.
Robbins, in her 11th year on tour, carried a lead into the final round for the 12th time in an LPGA event. She has won four of those tournaments, but dropped to 0-6 when she was only ahead by a shot with 18 holes to play.
"I'm obviously a little disappointed because anytime you go into the final round of a tournament with a one-shot lead, you like to play well enough to win," Robbins said.
Robbins, who matched the competitive course record with her first-round 64, has not won since the first tournament of the 1999 season -- the longest victory drought of her career.
Two-time defending champion Dorothy Delasin and Grace Park closed with 67s to tie for third at 205.
"I ran out of holes," Delasin said.
Park said she could have gone much lower.
"It was one of those days when a 67 felt horrible," she said. "I struck the ball so badly and had so many birdie chances but I just couldn't get it in the hole."
Former Giant Eagle winner Tammie Green had the day's low round, a 65, and was at 206 along with rookie Natalie Gulbis, who shot a closing 68, and first-round co-leader Beth Bader. Bader, who had earned just over $9,000 this year on tour, tripled her income in one week.
Before the presentation of the check, Kim was asked to test the microphones by saying a couple of words.
"I'm happy," she said.
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