Mirim Lee stuns big names to claim victory in Reignwood LPGA Classic
South Korean, 23, upstages world No 1 Stacy Lewis and Caroline Hedwall to clinch maiden title in Beijing
Mirim Lee was supposed to be no more than a bit-part player in the final round of the US$2.1 million Reignwood LPGA Classic.
Instead, the 23-year-old Korean confounded the odds, upstaging playing partners Stacy Lewis, the American world number one, and European heavyweight Caroline Hedwall.
Two shots off the pace going into the final round, the LPGA rookie tore up the script, carding a four-under-par 69 to emerge triumphant over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pine Valley Golf Club layout.
When I found my ball on the rock I thought it would be impossible to make par
With a four-day aggregate of 15-under 277, she finished two shots ahead of runner-up Hedwall who signed off with a 73.
Lewis, who edged out here on the 72nd hole last year, endured an uncharacteristically poor round. Struggling to find any rhythm on a difficult day when her group took more than six hours to complete their round, she could only manage a lacklustre 75 that saw her fall into joint sixth place on 281.
From the moment she bogeyed the 10th hole, Lewis found her back to the Great Wall, visible in the distance on a wonderfully clear, windy day on the outskirts of the Chinese capital.
As far as the galleries that flocked to the venue were concerned, it was Lee who rocked - almost literally - after an astonishing par save at the 127-yard, island green 17th.
