Ladies European Tour: Shanshan Feng eases to victory in Shanghai
Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:54, UK
China's Shanshan Feng could afford to drop a double bogey on the first hole as she eased to victory on home soil in the Buick Championship in Shanghai.
The local hero took a seven-shot lead into Sunday's final round and birdied three of the last four holes to card a 70 for a 17-under finish, six ahead of South Korea's Hyeon Seo Kang.
The world No 5's other nearest challenger overnight, Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord, hit three bogeys on the front nine as she struggled to muster a round of 73 which dropped her to end ten strokes behind Feng in a five-way tie for fourth place.
Also ending the tournament in fourth was Welsh 21-year-old Amy Boulden, in her second season on the Ladies European Tour (LET), who holed seven birdies to go round in 70 at the Qizhong Garden Golf Club.
Young English player Charley Hull, last year’s European Order of Merit winner, went into the final round tied in fifth place but posted a round of 75 to drop away and finish on two under, tied in 18th place.
Feng, who in 2012 became the first woman from mainland China to win on the LPGA tour, admitted to feeling nervous after her shaky start, but the 25-year-old from Guangzhou kept the title firmly within her grasp.
Although her lead was cut from seven strokes to three after Kang birdied the first two holes, she immediately hit back with birdies on the third and fourth.
She remedied a bogey on the sixth with another birdie on seven and was two under on the back nine after a pair of bogeys on holes 11 and 14 against four birdies on 10, 15, 17 and 18.
Honoured
“This is not my first time winning in China. I think this is my third time and second time on the LET. I’m really honoured to win my sponsor’s tournament,” said Feng, after sealing her fourth individual title on the Ladies European Tour and her 13th in total.
Kang, a joint runner-up at the LET’s Indian Open in 2014, returned a final round of 69 to take solo second place on 11 under par, three ahead of Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen, who recorded a career best finish in her second year as an LET member.
Boulden was tied for second on 10 under after 11 holes before dropping shots on the back nine. She said: “The front nine I played solid golf. I was hitting it close and making some solid putts then on the back nine I just got a bit aggressive with my putts.
“It was a good week for me. I feel like my game is in good shape and I don’t feel far away. I’m happy with my performance and I got better each round. Although my score wasn’t as good today, I got to five under and it could have been a really low round today so I’m just taking the positives away.”
As well as collecting Buick’s Winged Goddess Trophy, Feng and her amateur partner Liang Zhang also won the team Pro-Am competition running simultaneously over the last two rounds.
