Moodie gains first LPGA Tour win

Winning for the first time on the LPGA Tour was easy for Janice Moodie once she changed caddies, added another coach, found a course that played like her native Scotland, and putted like a champ.

Moodie made five short par-saving putts on the back nine to preserve her first win as she captured the ShopRite LPGA Classic by two shots today.

Moodie joins Kathryn Marshall, who won in Toledo in 1995, as only the Scots to win on the LPGA Tour.

"You've got to put it in perspective and realize Scotland's size compared to the United States is like the size of a pea,'' said the 27-year-old Moodie, who had three second-place finishes, including one this year, since joining the tour in 1998. "Population-wise, there just aren't as many golfers as there are in the States.''

Moodie, who lives in Glasgow, shot a 2-under-par 69 today and finished the 54-hole tournament with a 10-under 203 total on the Bay Course at the Seaview Marriott Resort.

The course is very much like a Scotish course in that players have to contend with the wind off the bay and they can play a number of shots that allow them to run the ball up to the greens.

Pat Hurst, who started the final round seven strokes behind Moodie, shot an early 64 and that was good enough to give her a tie for second with rookie Grace Park of South Korea at 205. Park shot a 67.

Juli Inkster, who won last week's LPGA Championship and loomed into contention by making birdies on five of the final seven holes on Saturday, never challenged after an early birdie today gave her a share of the lead. The 41-year-old Hall of Famer shot a 1-under 70 and finished tied for fourth at 206 with Vickie Odegard and Michelle Estill.

Coming into the week, Moodie was just coming out a month-long slump. She played OK in finishing in a tie for 23rd at the LPGA Championship, but this week she added a new caddie (Pat Fitzgerald), benefited from some recent work with new coaches in Orlando, and didn't miss a crucial putt down the stretch.

"This is unbelievable,'' Moodie said. "I've been working real hard to get this for the last two years.''

Moodie, who earned $165,000 and moved into ninth place among this year's leading earners with $370,323, never trailed in the tournament.

Moodie shared the first-round lead, led by two shots after the second round, and never gave up the lead despite being tied twice toay.

A short birdie by Inkster at No. 1 and a bogey by Moodie after hitting into a greenside bunker at No. 2 put them in tie for the lead with Maggie Will and Hurst.

Moodie grabbed it right back with a tap-in birdie at No. 3, a par-5, and a 6-footer at No. 4. Another shot in the bunker, this time at No. 6, dropped her back into a tie with Hurst, who won earlier this year in Tennessee.

Moodie took the lead for good with birdies in the 4-foot range at Nos. 8 and 9.

Once she opened a two-shot lead, Moodie glanced at the leaderboard a couple of times and tried to play par golf down the stretch.

Her putter and short game allowed her to do that. She made a 4-foot par saver at No. 10 and 10-footer at the next hole after blowing a birdie attempt past a tough pin placement.

Moodie also made par savers in the 3- to 5-foot range at Nos. 13, 15 and 16. Each time she made a putt, she pumped her fist in the air.

"That was the key,'' Moodie said. "I was a little shaky after missing a 3-footer on No. 2 but I holed the 10-footer on No. 11. I was leaving myself clutch putts all day, but I putted solid the last eight or nine holes.''

Moodie is the third straight foreign player to win this event, which this year is being held over the July 4 weekend.

Annika Sorenstam of Sweden won two years ago, and Se Ri Pak of South Korea won last year. Sorenstam did not play this year, while Pak missed the cut.

Hurst had eight birdies and a bogey in jumping in 34 positions.

Park had six birdies and two bogeys in posting her third top-10 finish this year.

Inskter now has two wins, three seconds, two thirds, and a fourth in 12 starts this year. The fourth-place finish tied Odegard's best-career finish and came after she made the cut for only the second time in 16 starts this year. Estill, looking for her first win since her rookie year in 1991, had not finished better than a tie for 26th in 14 previous starts this year.

Sweden's Maria Hjorth, who tied a course record with a 63 on Saturday to move within two shots of the lead, ballooned 15 shots today and finished at 1-over, tied for 44th.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page