Aviara Golf Club
Carlsbad, Calif.
Final-round notes and interviews
March 24, 2013
Iron Woman
Looking forward
Oh so close
Golden Ticket Winners
Quotable Of Note
Beatriz Recari -9, Rolex Rankings No. 45
I.K. Kim -9, Rolex Rankings No. 21
Rolex Rankings No. 45 Beatriz Recari (@BeatrizRecari) has been known as the “Iron Woman” of late for her consistency and on Sunday, she used a gritty performance to hold off I.K. Kim in a two-hole playoff to win her second-career LPGA victory at the Kia Classic (@LPGAKiaClassic).
Recari, who was bogey-free for the first three rounds in Carlsbad, turned in three bogeys and one birdie in regulation including a bogey on the 18th where she missed a four-foot par putt to win. After her win, Recari admitted to that her nerves were not nearly as calm as they were during her first win back in 2010.
“I don't think I'm any close to calm right now,” said Recari. “It's the opposite. Every victory is different and this is just amazing and I can't believe it. It's been really hard work and it's definitely paid off and I'm really happy.”
Recari and Kim both bogeyed the first playoff hole on No. 18 but Recari didn’t let her blunders on the green get in her head.
“Well, I said I still have another chance and I was still in it, and I had a good memory from my only playoff as a professional and I won, so Andreas told me, ‘You've done this before and you know that green,’” said Recari. “I don't know if it's because of the shade, it was definitely quicker than I thought in first two attempts that I had and fortunately I read it correctly the last one and I'm just very happy.”
Iron Woman: When asked about where her strong sense of determination comes from and how she’s become such a gritty player on the course, Recari credits her upbringing in Spain.
“It just comes I think comes from my family. I was raised by my grandma who, she was tough, and my mom, too. In Spain when women marry, they don't lose their name so I had actually my father's name and my mom's name, and she always told me, you're Eransus, you're not Recari, you're Eransus, you're tough. So I just told myself, you know, I'm not a hundred percent, I'm not feeling very bad but definitely not hundred percent so I just have to grind it out and just do it and just do my best.”
Looking forward: After bogeying No. 18 in regulation to move to 9-under par, I.K. Kim thought she was done for the day. The South Korean and three-time LPGA Tour winner said she didn’t have much regret the way she played the final hole twice over again in the playoff.
“Well, I never thought I could play that hole again and again, but I did that,” said Kim. “Hit good shots. The second shot is pretty tricky and the last one I had a great chance, too. It was the right club, but we didn't get that wind kind of, it was kind of gusting on off and we didn't catch that, so it came out a little short and it had a good chance but she made a good putt.”
Kim, who lives 15 minutes away from Aviara Golf Club says it would’ve been special to win in the San Diego area but feels that her game is coming together.
“Yeah, it would have been great if I had won, you know, but I played well this week and even last week I played well, so I think I'm going in the right direction and I just think I'm working on the right things,” said Kim. You know, it's getting better, so I'm very excited about this season.”
READ MORE
Ladies European Tour (LET) - Beatriz Recari wins Kia Classic in California
No comments:
Post a Comment