Beatriz Recari Wins Kia Classic in Playoff

By Fred Altvater on Tuesday, March 26th 2013
Beatriz Recari Wins Kia Classic in Playoff

Beatriz Recari shot two-over par 74 on Sunday at the Kia Classic and allowed I.K. Kim to catch her. She had three bogeys and one birdie in her final round.

This was the second LPGA Tour win for Recari. She won the CVS/Pharmacy LPGA Challenge in 2010, her rookie year on tour.

Recari joined the Ladies European Tour in 2006 at age 18. She had one win on that tour at the 2009 Finnair Masters.

She is not the longest hitter on the ladies tour and must perform well around the greens to compete with the world’s best.

Kim shot one-under par 71 to tie Recari after regulation 72 holes. Recari and Kim played No. 18 in the playoff and both bogeyed the hole the first time around.

On the second playoff hole Recari rolled in a birdie putt from the fringe to oust Kim and claim the $255,000 first-place check.

This was Recari’s third top-ten finish in five starts this year. She is now ranked No. 2 on the money list with $421,000 and is No. 45 on the Rolex Rankings.

Paula Creamer had played three good rounds but a final round five-over par 77 dropped her from third to T-17. Creamer has to be encouraged with her three good rounds but still has some work left to get back to her U.S. Women’s Open championship form.

World No. 1, Stacy Lewis posted another top-10 but struggled on Sunday with a final round 73 and fell from T-5 to T-9. The 2012 LPGA Player of the Year is leading the LPGA’s money list with $560,000 and two wins.

American women had another strong showing at the Kia Classic with five ladies finishing in the top-10. Mo Martin and Christie Kerr finished T-3, Jane Park and Lizette Salas were T-6, while Stacy Lewis was T-9.

The LPGA will take this week off before heading to Palm Springs for the Kraft Nabisco Championship, April 4-7, the first major of 2013. 

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