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Nicole Perrot gains three shot victory
Chile's Nicole Perrot found out that even par at the Longs Drug Challenge was a good enough score to secure her first LPGA Tour victory.
On a day when a low round was tough to come by, the 21-year-old Perrot rallied from a two-shot deficit, overcoming three bogeys on the front nine with three birdies on the back to beat South Korea's Hee-Won Han by a stroke.
Perrot rolled in a 3-foot par putt at the 18th to close with an even-par 71 and finish at 14-under 270 at The Ridge Golf Course, becoming the 10th first-time winner on tour this year.
"It was a fast putt, a tough putt. But it was straight," said Perrot, the 2001 U.S. Girls champion who won two events on the Futures Tour last year and earned her card by finishing third on that Tour's money list.
After making the decisive putt, Perrot pumped her fist, dropped to her knees for a moment and then accepted a hug from her caddie.
Han, who closed with a 69, was standing a few yards off the 18th green when Perrot's par putt dropped.
"I thought she would make it," Han said.
Liselotte Neumann (72) and Catriona Matthew (68) tied for third at 10 under, while Lindsey Wright (70) and Shi Hyun Ahn (67) were another shot back.
Karrie Webb had a 67 and tied for seventh with Heather Bowie (68), Young Kim (68) and Jean Bartholomew (68).
Annika Sorenstam didn't have much to celebrate on her 35th birthday. Starting the day nine stokes off the lead, the Swedish star closed with a 72 and tied for 22nd. Sorenstam, the 1997 champion at Twelve Bridges Golf Club, was making her first appearance in the tournament since 2001.
Perrot bogeyed three of her first five holes Sunday and had a 3-over 39 on the front nine. She started her comeback on No. 11 with a 10-foot birdie putt. She pulled even with Han at the par-5 15th after blasting out of a greenside bunker and tapping in for birdie. At the 16th, she rolled in a 6-footer for another birdie.
"I didn't play that bad (on the front side), I just missed two or three putts," Perrot said. "I just kept patient, try to do the same thing I was doing all week."
Perrot hopes the victory has an impact on golf in Chile.
"I think this was very important for my country," she said. "Golf is getting more popular, I think this will help a lot."
Han made a bogey at No. 3 and then ran off three straight birdies to take the lead. She hit a 6-iron to 3 feet at No. 5, had a tap-in birdie at the next and hit a pitching wedge to 2 feet at No. 7 to get to 13 under. But, she closed out her round with 11 straight pars and fell short of following her win at The Office Depot Championship with another victory.
"I played pretty good, my putts just weren't going in," Han said. "The wind was blowing pretty hard in the afternoon and it was hard getting second shots in there."
Natalie Gulbis fell out of contention after a third-round 76, but rebounded with the lowest round of the day Sunday, closing with a 7-under 64 and tying for 11th.
Nicole Perrot, $150,000 69-66-64-71-270 -14
Hee-Won Han, $91,325 73-63-66-69-271 -13
Catriona Matthew, $58,750 70-69-67-68-274 -10
Liselotte Neumann, $58,750 68-70-64-72-274 -10
Shi Hyun Ahn, $37,500 69-68-71-67-275 -9
Lindsey Wright, $37,500 67-68-70-70-275 -9
Karrie Webb, $23,875 71-67-71-67-276 -8
Heather Bowie, $23,875 70-69-69-68-276 -8
Young Kim, $23,875 67-72-69-68-276 -8
Jean Bartholomew, $23,875 73-64-71-68-276 -8
Natalie Gulbis, $16,042 70-67-76-64-277 -7
Nadina Taylor, $16,042 68-72-69-68-277 -7
Helen Alfredsson, $16,042 71-68-70-68-277 -7
Juli Inkster, $16,042 72-66-67-72-277 -7
Jennifer Rosales, $16,042 71-66-67-73-277 -7
Sherri Steinhauer, $16,042 70-65-69-73-277 -7
Christina Kim, $12,700 68-68-74-68-278 -6
Dawn Coe-Jones, $12,700 67-66-72-73-278 -6
Pat Hurst, $11,500 68-72-71-68-279 -5
Wendy Ward, $11,500 69-73-67-70-279 -5
Beth Daniel, $11,500 66-69-70-74-279 -5
Candie Kung, $9,930 72-69-70-69-280 -4
Annika Sorenstam, $9,930 68-69-71-72-280 -4
Jimin Kang, $9,930 72-70-65-73-280 -4
Candy Hannemann, $9,930 68-69-70-73-280 -4
Sherri Turner, $9,930 69-69-66-76-280 -4
Michelle Ellis, $8,180 70-71-73-67-281 -3
Joanne Morley, $8,180 68-67-74-72-281 -3
Lee Ann Walker-Cooper, $8,180 71-67-70-73-281 -3
Heather Daly-Donofrio, $8,180 69-66-73-73-281 -3
Marilyn Lovander, $8,180 66-71-69-75-281 -3
Kate Golden, $6,680 69-74-70-69-282 -2
Il Mi Chung, $6,680 68-74-71-69-282 -2
Kim Williams, $6,680 67-70-76-69-282 -2
Wendy Doolan, $6,680 69-70-69-74-282 -2
Michele Redman, $6,680 69-67-72-74-282 -2
Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, $5,900 71-70-74-68-283 -1
Erica Blasberg, $4,822 69-75-70-70-284 E
Gloria Park, $4,822 76-67-71-70-284 E
Kathryn Marshall, $4,822 72-70-71-71-284 E
Young Jo, $4,822 71-73-68-72-284 E
Brandie Burton, $4,822 70-74-68-72-284 E
Emily Bastel, $4,822 70-74-68-72-284 E
Paula Marti, $4,822 75-67-70-72-284 E
Stacy Prammanasudh, $4,822 68-72-70-74-284 E
Leta Lindley, $4,822 68-70-71-75-284 E
Brittany Lincicome, $3,660 72-67-75-71-285 +1
Cristie Kerr, $3,660 62-75-77-71-285 +1
Nancy Scranton, $3,660 72-70-71-72-285 +1
Nicole Jeray, $3,660 70-70-73-72-285 +1
Jamie Hullett, $3,660 68-69-74-74-285 +1
Johanna Head, $3,150 72-71-72-71-286 +2
Lorie Kane, $3,150 69-72-72-73-286 +2
Becky Iverson, $3,150 66-74-72-74-286 +2
Tina Barrett, $3,150 74-65-71-76-286 +2
Emilee Klein, $2,800 72-72-72-71-287 +3
A.J. Eathorne, $2,800 72-71-72-72-287 +3
Riko Higashio, $2,800 71-64-78-74-287 +3
Pearl Sinn-Bonanni, $2,517 73-71-70-74-288 +4
Sung Ah Yim, $2,517 71-72-71-74-288 +4
Rachel Hetherington, $2,517 68-71-72-77-288 +4
Birdie Kim, $2,350 72-69-78-70-289 +5
Soo-Yun Kang, $2,350 70-73-74-72-289 +5
Minny Yeo, $2,350 70-73-71-75-289 +5
Michelle Estill, $2,175 71-73-76-70-290 +6
Hilary Lunke, $2,175 71-72-75-72-290 +6
Kristal Parker-Manzo, $2,175 75-69-73-73-290 +6
Tracy Hanson, $2,175 70-70-76-74-290 +6
Angela Stanford, $2,050 73-71-73-75-292 +8
Eva Dahllof, $2,000 71-69-77-76-293 +9
Leslie Spalding, $1,963 69-75-78-73-295 +11
Lara Tadiotto, $1,963 72-72-73-78-295 +11
Denise Killeen, $1,925 74-69-73-82-298 +14
Stephanie Louden, $1,900 73-69-77-80-299 +15
Siew-Ai Lim, $1,875 70-74-73-84-301 +17
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