NAPLES - Cristie Kerr captured the 18th win of her career Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship. With a share of the 54-hole lead, Kerr posted a final round 4-under, 68 to win by one stroke at 17-under par.
"It's pretty cool. It's a lot of different honors," said Kerr. "That's what the year end is about. It feels pretty cool to win the last tournament of the year."
Players took advantage of the soft course conditions following overnight rain that continued into the morning and delayed the start of play by one hour. But Kerr got off to a slow start, making par on her first eight holes before making back-to-back birdies on the 9th and 10th holes.
"Didn't seem like a whole lot was going my way early. All of a sudden at the end, I was there when I needed to be," Kerr said.
She then drained a 35-footer for birdie at the par 4, 15th to stay in the hunt and move back into a share of the lead with Ha Na Jang at 15-under par.
"I knew that I was leaving putts short and I knew I had to get it there," Kerr told the media. "When it left my putter and it was going towards the hole, I've had so many that were in the heart of the hole that I left a foot short this week. It just kept going and I was like get there, get there, get there. It went in and I was like, this was the first bit of momentum I've had almost all day."
It was at the reachable par 5, 17th where Kerr closed out the tournament, draining a long putt for eagle to take the outright lead heading to the final hole. Kerr’s victory is the second of the season, having also won the Kia Classic in March.
Both looking for their first career wins on Tour, Ha Na Jang and Gerina Piller finished T-2 at 16-under par. In contention for much of the day, Lexi Thompson finished fourth at 14-under par.
While Inbee Park and Lydia Ko came up short in winning this week’s event, they both will go home with new hardware. Ko takes home the $1 million dollar Race to the CME Globe for the second consecutive year. She is also the 2015 Player of the Year and tops the money list.
Park captures the Vare Trophy for 2015 with the lowest scoring average for the season. With that she earns the 27th and final point needed to earn her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She will be eligible in her 10th active season on the LPGA Tour. This is her ninth season.
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