Jang Hangs On For Third Win Of Season
Ha Na Jang (-17) shot a final round 71 that proved to be just enough to grab her third victory of 2016 as she defeated a charging Shanshan Feng by a single stroke at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship.
Jang started strong with birdies in three of her first six holes, but had bogeys on the 7th and 9th and pars on every hole of the back side. Meanwhile, Feng gradually chipped away at Jang’s lead.
“I was like nervous every hole,” Jang said. “Shanshan really good play today. That’s why I got very nervous. And then I’m just simple every hole because weather is just so bad. And then just keep going the fairway and the green. That’s why great score, too. Really happy today. Thank you.”
Jang joins Ariya Jutanugarn and Lydia Ko as the third player with at least three victories on the LPGA this season. Like Jutanugarn, all of her career victories have come in 2016.
The eventual winner had built a six-shot lead after a 62 on Saturday, matching the lowest round of the year on Tour. It was Feng that had the hot hand on Sunday closing with a final round 66 that included a chip-in on the 15th and a near make from the greenside bunker on the last.
Feng has been one of the LPGA’s hottest players of late, with top-4 finishes in each of her last three starts. Jang said Feng’s record and play on Sunday had her nervous, but she tried to focus on her own game down the stretch.
“She make birdie hole No. 15; chip in. It’s like, Oooo, awesome. Like that. After 15 hole I am very nervous, but I am trying talk about myself just be patient. Just you play. Don’t think about other player. Just play.”
Hyo Joo Kim and Brooke Henderson tied for third at 10-under par. Candie Kung was the lowest scoring Taiwanese player at 9-under, tying for fifth place with Lee-Anne Pace and Hee Young Park.
Video Links
- Final Round Highlights
- Ha Na Jang Final Round Highlights
- Shanshan Feng Final Round Highlights
- Lydia Ko Chip-In Highlight
2016 Wins Leaders
5 - Ariya Jutanugarn
4 - Lydia Ko
3 - Ha Na Jang
2 - 3 players tied (Brooke Henderson, Sei Young Kim, Haru Nomura)
1 - 8 players tied
South Koreans On a Roll
Ha Na Jang’s victory makes it three wins in a row for Korean players on the LPGA Tour, following In Gee Chun’s win in the season’s last major at The Evian Championship and In-Kyung Kim’s victory at Reignwood in the first event of the Asian swing. Korean players lead the Tour with nine wins on the year, four more than the next closest country; Jang leads all Korean players with her three wins this season.
Next week provides an opportunity for Korean players to capture a win on their home soil as the LPGA travels to Incheon, South Korea for the LPGA KEB HANA BANK CHAMPIONSHIP.
2016 Wins By Country
9 - South Korea (six players)
5 - Thailand (Ariya Jutanugarn)
4 - New Zealand (Lydia Ko)
2 - Japan (Haru Nomura)
2 - Canada (Brooke Henderson)
2 - United States (Lexi Thompson, Brittany Lang)
1 - Australia (Minjee Lee)
1 - Sweden (Anna Nordqvist)
1 - Germany (Caroline Masson)
Quotable
“Yesterday my agent and all the people text me say just try small celebration. Please just you try it. That’s why I got try a little more small one. But I think it’s really good. Celebration is a little small but looks like a little bigger. It’s like dancing like, I like it, I like it. Like that. So happy, right?”
- Ha Na Jang on her victory celebration
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