Angela Stanford held of Michelle Wie in Saturday's final round to win the 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay by three-strokes.
Wie managed only two birdies on the day which coupled with a double bogey in the par-4 eleventh hole cost her a chance at winning. Stanford shot off three consecutive birdies starting with the thirteenth hole, finishing with four birdies and two bogey's on the day for a 2-under 70 on the day and a 10-under 206 and a three stroke victory.
With the exception of Michelle Wie having pulled off the victory, the start to the 2009 LPGA season couldn't have gotten off to a better start. Wie solid performance will create alot of buzz for the former child prodigy as will the solid performance of LPGA Tour rookies Vicky Hurst and Stacy Lewis.
Although Hurst and Lewis both stumbled on the day's final round, the played well enough through the first two rounds to show why they are so highly regarded coming into their rookie seasons on the tour. Hurst dropped from fifth place through two rounds to finish in fifteenth place after carding five bogey's and finishing at an even-par 216 for the tournament. Lewis dropped from fifth place through two rounds to finish in a four way tie for twentieth place with a 1-over 217 for the tournament. Lewis had four bogeys and a double-bogey on the day.
Yani Tseng, the second highest ranked female golfer in the world behind Lorena Ochoa, finished with a 2-under for the tournament for a fifth place finish.
Natalie Gulbis, starts 2009 season with a top 10 finish, with a 1-under for the tournament finishing in a four way tie for tenth place on the leaderboard.
Paula Creamer finished at an even-par for the tournament for a fifteenth place finish.
With these top names getting off to a strong start, the LPGA change some of the negative momentum leading up to the start of the season after losing several sponsors for tournaments because of the ailing economy.
