Final-round interviews: Jiyai Shin | Angela Stanford

Final-round interviews: Jiyai Shin | Angela Stanford

Final-round notes

Shin wins P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons
Rookie earns third official victory in two-hole, sudden-death playoff over Stanford, Yoo

ROGERS, Ark., Sept. 13, 2009 - LPGA Tour rookie player Jiyai Shin survived a two-hole, sudden-death playoff at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons to pick up her third official victory, and matched her win total from 2008 when she won three times as a non-member. The South Korean player also increased her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings, as she now has a total of 1,269 points, 585 more than Michelle Wie.

When Shin arrived at Pinnacle Country Club at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning for her final round, her goal was for a top-10 finish. Teeing off at 7:22 a.m. in the third group of the day, 10 groups ahead of the leaders, Shin has some waiting to do once she finished with her 9-under-par 204 (70-70-64) score. Approximately two and a half hours later, Shin returned to the driving range to warm-up again, once she learned that she would return to the course for a playoff.

"Well, usually my goal is top-10, because the last couple months my shots have been a little bit down," said Shin. "So, my goal was top-10. But today my goal was to be 2-under-par, because I heard the rain coming and the windy day, so I want to just make under-par score. My shot was still good, and my putting was really, really good today."

This week's win did more than just surpass the 21-year-old's goal of a top-10 finish. With the $270,000 that went to the winner, Shin jumped over Cristie Kerr in the LPGA Official Money List, and now has a total of $1,498,861 in season earnings. In addition to the LPGA Official Money List, Shin now holds the top-spot in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year and Rolex Player of the Year race. Should Shin win these two honors, it would be the first time a player claims both since Nancy Lopez did the trick in 1979.

"That would be huge," Shin said when asked about winning both awards. "That would be a huge, a huge thing for me, because I'm a rookie this year, so I just focus on the rookie of the year. But now I have a chance for player of the year, too. So, I want to now focus to the whole thing. If I get both, I think I can't live with myself; would be so exciting."

The two players Shin had to keep an eye on for the most part were four-time LPGA Tour winner Angela Stanford (66-69-69=204, -9) and fourth-year LPGA Tour player Sun Young Yoo (69-67-68=204, -9). Stanford bogeyed and eagled her first two holes of the day, one and two, bogeyed eight, birdied 14 and bogeyed 15. Walking to the 18th green, Stanford new what had to be done, and she did it. From 25 feet away, she holed out for her 12th eagle of the year, and a spot in the three-person playoff.

"On 18, I knew I needed a good drive," she said. "And I hadn't been in the first cut over there yet this week. I had always been to the right. But it was kind of sitting up a little bit, so I asked my caddie. Then we watched. I thought if I can get it to the front right part of the green and give myself a chance, we'll have a roll at it. We both saw the same spot we wanted to roll over."

This is Stanford's, a 2000 graduate of Texas Christian University, seventh runner-up finish of her nine-year career, and second of 2009. Just last week, Stanford also finished tied for runner-up honors at the CN Canadian Women's Open. With the $143,065 check Stanford cashed this week, she crossed the million-dollar mark in season-earnings. She now was a grand total of $1,006,634, and is the sixth player in 2009 to cross the milestone.

Rounding out the sudden-death playoff was Yoo, who fell just short of notching her first career victory, but tied her career-best finish in the runner-up spot on the final leaderboard. The South Korean player now has three top-10 finishes to her credit this season, and along with this week's runner-up, finished tied for seventh at the Wegmans LPGA event, and tied for sixth at the HSBC Women's Champions event in Singapore.

Ahn records first top-10 finish of 2009. Shi Hyun Ahn, a six-year LPGA Tour player out of South Korea, finished in a two-way tie for fourth at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons. Ahn (71-68-66) joined Song-Hee Kim (65-68-72) with identical 8-under-par 205 scorecards, just one stroke behind the champion, Jiyai Shin (70-70-64=204, -9). Ahn now has 27 top-10 finishes as an official LPGA Tour member. Back in 2003 before joining the Tour, the 25-year-old won the CJ Nine Bridges Classic Presented by Sports Today as a non-member. That win also gave her the honor of the youngest international winner in LPGA Tour history, which still stands today.

Second-year player Leon notches career-best finish. Taylor Leon, a native of Dallas Texas, finished in sole possession of sixth place at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, good for a career-best. Her 7-under-par 206 (71-68-67) overall mark was just two strokes off this week's winner, Jiyai Shin, who picked up her third win of the 2009 LPGA Tour season. At Pinnacle Country Club, Leon tallied 15 birdies and eight bogeys over the three-day event. Throughout her two-year career, the 22-year-old now has a pair of top-10 finishes, with the other one coming at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay, where she finished tied for 10th.

WD. A.J. Eathorne, Sophie Giquel, Tracy Hanson and Angela Oh did not start the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons. Kate Golden withdrew prior to the start of the second round, and Il Mi Chung withdrew during the second round. Sung Ah Yim was disqualified for not signing a scorecard.

Final-round interviews: Jiyai Shin | Angela Stanford

Jiyai Shin, 70-70-64=204, -9
Hole 1, 320-yard par 4: birdie, 52-degree wedge to nine feet
Hole 3, 166-yard par 3: birdie, 7-iron to three feet
Hole 10, 365-yard par 4: birdie, 9-iron to three feet
Hole 11, 141-yard par 3: birdie, 7-iron to two feet
Hole 14, 470-yard par 5: birdie, 5-iron, missed up-and-down
Hole 16, 390-yard par 4: birdie, 5-iron to 45 feet
Hole 18, 515-yard par 5: birdie, 6-iron to six feet

JASON TAYLOR: Jiyai, congratulations on winning the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons. This is your third victory this year. Can you talk about how you're feeling?
JIYAI SHIN: Hello everyone. Thank you for coming here. Well, usually my goal is top 10, because last couple months my shots have been a little bit down. So my goal is top 10. Yeah, last Tuesday my shot was perfect. It was really good. But my putting is too much mistakes for the chance.

But today my goal was just be 2 under par, because I heard the rain coming and the windy day, so I want to just make under par score. But, my shot still was good, and my putting was really, really good today. So, yeah.

Then last hole I played the playoff, where I really get pressure and nervous because I didn't think about to the win this morning. I really felt try to get the chance. So, yeah, I really am happy.

Q. I guess this is at least the second time this year you've won a tournament when you were significantly behind in the last day. At what point did you think you might have a chance to win when you were 7 strokes behind at the beginning? Did you realize on the back nine you might be able to on post a score to get the win?
JIYAI SHIN: Yeah, I scored 30. 5 under par, so, yeah (laughing). Well, today I said at the beginning for the nine, the leader's score is 9 and my score's 7, so I'm 7 strokes behind the leader.

So, well, just I think the weather was bad, so I just close to the lead. And I think play not easy because wind and the rain. In the first is my measurements are getting better day by day. So I make good score.

Q. Very good score?
JIYAI SHIN: Thank you.

Q. During the back nine today, can you talk about the birdie that you made on number 16? It was kind of a long putt. It was one of two birdies made there all day?
JIYAI SHIN: Oh, really?

Q. Yes, good job?
JIYAI SHIN: A really tough hole. It's first challenge hole, number 15, because I think distance is 404 yards, and then it's turning. And they have a big tree right side that really make it hard to look at the pin.

So number 15 is I think on the left side of the fairway. And not right side of the fairway, so I didn't worry about the second shot. But today pin was on the left side, so I had a little bit and just look at the pin. And then about 40 feet from the front of the pin. Usually on Tuesday I practiced there.

Yeah, I know the line and I hit it and I made it. I know the lines, but I'm just thinking make par, because number 16 was really challenge hole, so he she might par. I think number 15 very easy, good for one.

Q. I'm wondering the first time you played 18 today, you hit a shot to a few feet. How far away were you and what iron did you hit on that?
JIYAI SHIN: Number 18. That shot was 110 yards. And then it just two feet by the cup.

Q. The second time you had kind of a weird distance, didn't you?
JIYAI SHIN: Still 45 yards to the pin.

Q. Talk about how hard a shot maybe that was?
JIYAI SHIN: Well, first time missed the fairway, so you know, enough to get two on. So I have to wait till two on thinking about that. And I felt my ball was standing a little bit high. So I hit 5wood. It was really good. Little bit short, and it comes up with 30 yards.

Q. You've won your sixth win now in the last two years. Why do you think you've been able to win so many tournaments?
JIYAI SHIN: Oh, that's hard. Well, just lucky. Always, lucky has followed me.

Q. On the winning hole in the playoffs, about how long was that putt you had, and did it help that Angela took one along the same line?
JIYAI SHIN: Yeah, it was 12 feet to the hole. And then 12foot, I saw that Angela's ball looks like just almost straightaway, no left to the right. But Angela's ball went left to the right. So I said that was different looking. So I trust Angela's putt, and then I set up about the cup to the left of the hole and then I made it. Angela's big help for me.

Q. Your drive on 18 the first time, what happened? Did you miss that drive in it seemed like you were in some trouble?
JIYAI SHIN: No, I hit was really good. Just downwind, little bit down. So I tried to travel over the bunker, but little bit short. Just top of the bunker little bit. But I made birdie. That's enough.

Q. You finished so much earlier than the other competitors from the playoff. I saw you in the room in there. It didn't look like you guys were watching very carefully, very closely the other players. Talk about what you did for those two hours while you were waiting to go back out?
JIYAI SHIN: Yeah, today I saw it, I came to here about 5:30 in the morning. It was long day. Then after my finish, I saw the last group is on on number 12. We had 12 holes, so I said, Wow, I have to waiting a long time.

Then first time was just watching the other players play. Then I get more nervous after watching, because it's really close, a lot of players were really close. But I tried to make it comfortable by myself because I didn't think about this money. I said is, yeah, I played really good. That's enough. Yeah, I made it comfortable in my mind.

Q. When this season first started, did you have the goal of winning Rookie of the Year in your mind? Did you think of that?
JIYAI SHIN: Yes, of course. Of course. Last two months last two months my offense was big upanddown, so I was to my score for Rookie of the Year, too. But last week in Canada I played not good. But final round I he played and made it a a63 score, so really confident because 63 is my best score. So my shot and my putting is getting better.

Q. What would it mean to you if you did get the Rookie of the Year?
JIYAI SHIN: Well, Rookie of the Year is just one chance for the whole life. So I only focus on the Rookie of the Year. Now I play more closer.

Q. How well do you know Angela Stanford? What do you think of her as a golfer and a fellow competitor?
JIYAI SHIN: Well, Angela she is my big sister this year. We play together on Friday. Watching her play, she was really good to the putting and everything, the shot, really. She has good.

She said Monday I really make a better shot bad shot, so she say to taking my lucky a little bit. And then she like touch me a little bit, Angela. And I made bogey on number 17. So she said, oh, it worked. And then today the last hole at the playoff, number 15, she said give back. Give back my luck (laughing).

Q. Did you do it?
JIYAI SHIN: Yeah. (Laughing).

Q. What would it mean to you if you win the Rookie of the Year and the player of the year? And that's not been done since 1979 when Nancy Lopez did it. So what would it mean if you win both this year?
JIYAI SHIN: Well, that would be huge, a huge thing for me, because I'm rookie this year, so I just focus on the Rookie of the Year.
But now I have chance for player of the year, too. So I want to now focus to the whole thing. Well, first, Nancy Lopez, she got two things, so, maybe, maybe I got a, maybe I try to the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year. Maybe I get both. If I get both I think I can't live by myself, I think, yeah.

Q. It would be really exciting?
JIYAI SHIN: Of course.

Angela Stanford, 66-69-69=204, -9
Hole 1, 320-yard par 4: bogey, two-putt to 15 feet
Hole 2 549-yard par 5: eagle, 9-iron from 138 yards
Hole 8, 404-yard par 4: bogey, 4-iron, three-putt
Hole 14, 470-yard par 5: birdie, 4-iron to three feet
Hole 15, 146-yard par 3: bogey, 8-iron to 25 feet
Hole 18, 515-yard par 5: eagle, 7-wood to 25 feet

JASON TAYLOR: Angela, thanks for coming in. You had a great week of golf, and finished as the runner-up this week. You had a very exciting eagle on the 18th hole to get in to the playoff with Jiyai Shin and Sun Young Yoo. How are you feeling right about now?
ANGELA STANFORD: Well, it's almost like I'm upset because I had three threeputts, when you look at it like that, I should have won. At the same time, you know, walking off 15 after that threeputt, to be able for me to pull it together and say, you know, if I can give myself a chance. If I can just get to 18 and if nobody's made it to 10, if I can, you know, just give myself a chance to eagle to get into the playoffs.

So I'm more upset because threeputts are, they're just like don't have a nice word for them. But then to fight back in the end to get into the playoff and give myself a chance, there is good and bad to it.

Q. Obviously, the two double eagles or the eagles today were a huge part in getting to the playoffs. Can you talk about both of them? Especially the one on 18, kind of go over that. What was going through you before you made the putt and what was your initial reaction? Did you think it was going to go in?
ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, well, the one on two I was so mad about the threeputt. And I actually got very fortunate, because I pulled my tee shot, hit a tree, and it came back into the fairway. So that was like a double blessing on that hole.

So standing over that ball I thought, you know, it's a long day. I need to just hit the golf shot in front of me and it went in the hole. So that was kind of a weird deal.

But then 18, I knew I needed a good drive. And I hadn't been in the first cut over there yet this week. I had always been to the right. But it was kind of sitting up a little bit, so I asked my caddy. I'm like, well, I can try to hit a low hooking 4iron and get it to run up there or like a cutting 7wood to get it back there.

Then we watched, I can't remember who hit first in our group, her ball hit the front of the green and came all the way down. And he's like I think we need to get something to the hole. So I was like, okay, so 7wood.

Actually, at the last minute I thought about taking it over to the bunker, and I moved my target over a little bit. I thought if I can get it to the front right part of the green and give myself a chance, we'll have a roll at it. We both saw the same spot we wanted to roll it over.

You know, I was nervous, and all day I had missed a lot of putts that I should have made. And honestly, I thought, you know, my mom's here, you know, forget being nervous. Be a player and get it in the hole. And it went in. It went right over the spot, so. That was pretty cool.

Q. Going into that 18th hole knowing you had to do that in order to get to the playoffs, what's that like? What's going through your head? Is that something you like? A position you like being in? Do you put a lot of pressure on yourself?
ANGELA STANFORD: No. It actually works the other way. Not all the time, but when I walked off the scene after three putting, I was already thinking about eagle there. And I told myself I've got to get it upanddown and par 16. You've got to twoputt 17, at least par. You can't make another mistake because you have the chance to make eagle.

So the whole time 35, 40 minutes I'm thinking eagle, eagle, eagle. Get to 18, and that's all you're thinking about. That's all I allowed myself to think about. There was only one goal on that hole.

So in that respect, I never thought about anything else. I never thought about you know, if I make birdie; okay. Tied for second or whatever. But it was just I have to make eagle. That's it.

Q. Talk about the tee shot on 15 in the playoff? You know, is it about where you wanted it? What did you think?
ANGELA STANFORD: Well, the weird part was I was excited to hit it again, because the first time around I other took a little off the 8, and it came off. And it was closer to the pin on that one. And I thought, Oh, perfect. It's just a pure 8iron, and I thought it was all over it. And for it to come up short was just kind of odd.

But I knew she was going to make that putt. She was too good of a putter to miss that. So that's probably why I sent mine rolling by five feet. Kind of glad I didn't have to spot it.

Q. What makes Jiyai Shin's such a good golfer, and how incredible is it that she's stormed on to the tour the way she has?
ANGELA STANFORD: You know, she's very steady. She's very consistent. We played with her the first day, and she had a ton of lip outs. It's just always there. Always in the middle of the fairway. Always on the green. Always giving herself chances. She'll put you to sleep, but it's good.

Other than that, I know her a little bit. She's a great girl. She's got a great heart. I think she just she's got a contentment about her that makes her happy with whatever's going to happen. I think that has a lot to do with great golfers. Is that it?

Q. You have about two hours to go, could you hold up? Did you think you'd get to 10?
ANGELA STANFORD: I thought somebody was going to get to 10. I thought if I could get to 10, we'd birdie 18 to get to 8. I thought, Okay, birdied 18. If I can get to 10, got it. But it didn't surprise me when I saw her name.

Q. How often does your mom come and watch you play, if at all? And, obviously, just having her here was probably something that you really wanted. What was that like?
ANGELA STANFORD: Well, usually you'll come out on a normal year four to five times. This year I don't think she did anything earlier this year. I can't remember. But she did make it to Solheim. Four to five times, but now with the circumstances just it's the bonus to get her out now.

But, you know, I'm not going to get many opportunities to win in front of my parents because they're both still working. I don't have them out every week. So I was kind of thinking about that. I'm like, this is a good chance, because I'm usually not in contention when they're around. So I really wanted to do that. Because every time they've seen me win it's been on TV.

Q. Obviously, we're getting towards the end of the season. It's been a really good year, and this tournament kind of shows why you had a good year. You were being consistent. Talk about this tournament and how that played into the year?
ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, it has been a great year. There are a couple of goals out there that I'd love to get to. But the problem is if you have goals like player of the year or being on top of the money list, the Bear Trophy, you've got to finish it off and you've got to win more than once. Having a boat load of Top 10s is great. It's a good year. But I needed a win today if I'm going to get to some of those goals.

Q. How tough was it to get back into it today? It was raining, the wind was a big deal. Was that hard for you?
ANGELA STANFORD: I think, and this is where maybe looking at the scoreboard can be good and bad. Nobody was really running away, so that kind of makes you think. Okay, well, it's tough for everybody. Well, but you've still got to play. So that's the only thing that I thought well, the conditions must be a little bit tougher because nobody made it to 10. That's what surprised me. I thought for sure somebody would make it to 10.

Q. How weird a round was this for you? The fact that you had so many three-putts, then you hole one out, then you have an eagle on 18. Have you had a weirder round?
ANGELA STANFORD: I don't think so. I was just frustrated because my speed was so bad on the greens, and I didn't know why.

Even on the par 3 in the playoffs, I said I knew she was going to make that. I needed to make mine, and it was like, oh, no, because he knew I was going to blow it by. It was really odd that my speed was that bad, because it's been okay the whole week.

Q. What's it like to take a putt like that? You heard the crowd on 18, just the adrenaline's going?
ANGELA STANFORD: It's pretty cool. It's only happened one other time. The 2003 Open where I like yelled and couldn't really hear myself. Those are cool moments because you know there is so much anticipation, and you know they want to come out of their seats. So it's pretty cool.

Even when I was getting ready to putt, there was a lot of, Come on, Angela, come on. And you know they're pulling for you. And they want to go crazy because, let's be honest, golf can be boring to watch. So if you get the opportunity to scream and yell, they love it.

Q. It looked like standing next to your mom, well, the Golf Channel kept showing your mom, and Cristie Kerr was there and Brittany Lincicome. And they were all kind of gathered together. I guess when they're out of contention, are they rooting for you?
ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, that's what's so great about my friends. I would say we're very fortunate because if one of us is playing well, you know, we're happy for them. That's when you know you've got good friends out here, because if that were any of them, I would be there.

So that's the cool part about those girls. We want each other to do well. Obviously, we want to beat the heck out of each other, but if one of us gets into contention like that, then we're all there for each other.