Sarah Jane has career best LPGA finish

Sarah Jane Smith 595

SARAH JANE SMITH has had her best ever finish on the LPGA Tour with a tie for second at the 2014 Kingsmill Championship at the Kingsmill Resort in Virginia.

The 29 year old Queenslander shot a flawless final round 5-under 66 to tie with former world No.1 Yani Tseng (69) and Lexi Thompson (69).

The trio were fours strokes behind debut winner Lizette Salas who posted rounds of 69-68-65-71.

Smith’s previous best on the LPGA was a 6th eighteen months ago. She earned US$90,500 for her efforts on the weekend.

“I’ve always really liked this golf course. Just never been able to put it all together,” Smith said after her round. “So I just feel comfortable here. I think that helped. Even though my results may not have shown it, I definitely love it here.”

Smith said she got a bit nervous on 16 coming in because she didn’t expect that even 5-under would be good enough to sneak into contention.

“Not that I didn’t feel like I could play well, I really didn’t think even I’m really happy with 5 under for the day, but I didn’t think that would sneak in to wherever it is at the moment,” she said. “So I’m happy with that.”

Twenty four year old Salas, a resident of California, has been playing golf since she was seven and was still coming to terms with her biggest win.

“It is a dream come true. I’ve been working so hard for this. I’ve had so much support over the years and to finally break through my third season out on tour, I’m just so happy. Lot of emotions right now,” Salas said.

“I was patient, I was happy, and I was ready most importantly. I took a different approach this week of not thinking so much and trying to be perfect,” she said. “You know, I made a putter switch last week when I was home, and it was — I felt so ready. There are so many emotions going on right now that I’m just trying to breathe.”

LPGA Results

Leave a Reply