Kang claims first LPGA tour win
If Soo-Yun Kang was feeling the pressure of playing with the lead, she hid it well to claim the first LPGA Tour win of her career.
The unflappable Kang carded a three-under-par 69 on Sunday and registered her first career tour win, a relatively easy four-shot victory in the Safeway Classic.
A 29-year-old native of Korea, Kang became the ninth first-time winner on tour this year. She joined the LPGA in 2001 after winning eight times on the Korean LPGA Tour.
Kang began the day with a three-shot lead and familiar playing partners - compatriots Jeong Jang, who won the British Open in her last start, and Gloria Park, who was in search of her third career win.
Neither Jang nor Park ever had any daylight as Kang birdied four of the first seven holes to widen her lead to four strokes. She led by at least three thereafter as she avoided any major mistakes.
Kang bogeyed the final hole but nevertheless finished at 15-under 201. She began to cry as she hugged her caddie before receiving a champagne shower from fellow players.
Kang became the fifth Korean to notch her maiden win this year and led a top-four finish by her compatriots. Jang carded a 70 for 11-under 205, one stroke better than Park, who finished with a 71. Joo Mi Kim was fourth with a 71-208.
