“We congratulate Sun Young Yoo on her outstanding play over six exhausting matches,” said John Chen, Chairman, CEO and President of Sybase. “We would also like to recognize Angela Stanford for advancing to the finals by eliminating some of the top competitors in the field. We are pleased that the Tournament’s new match-play format offered an exciting experience for the players, as well as spectators and volunteers.”
With the victory, the 23 year-old South Korean became a Rolex First Time Winner on the LPGA Tour. She was awarded a Rolex watch during the awards presentation following the conclusion of the tournament.
Yoo played her best on the back nine of Hamilton Farm Golf’s course, winning four of the final five holes in the match. She finished with birdies on hole 16 and hole 17 to solidify her win against Stanford.
Yoo, seeded 28th, faced a challenging route to the finals, defeating five higher-ranked players throughout the week. Her victories included wins over #34 Karen Stupples (Rd. 1), #5 Cristie Kerr (Rd. 2), #12 Song-Hee Kim (Rd. 3), #4 Yani Tseng (quarterfinals) and #1 Jiyai Shin (semifinals). Stanford (finals) was ranked #10.
She dismissed the notion that she was over thinking matchups against higher-ranked opponents, saying “Everybody’s good this week, so I think the ranking number’s just a number, so you never know.” She added, “I felt really comfortable out there. I don’t know why, but I wasn’t nervous too much.”
Stanford’s route to the finals featured wins over #29 Amy Hung (Rd. 1), #41 Pat Hurst (Rd. 2), #55 Amanda Blumenherst (Rd. 3), #15 Catriona Matthew (quarterfinals) and #30 Amy Yang (semifinals). Stanford earned $225,000 for her second place finish.
Number one ranked Jiyai Shin finished third, earning $150,000 by defeating Amy Yang 3&2 in the consolation match. Yang earned $112,500 for her fourth place finish.
Hamilton Farm Golf Club received rave reviews over the week from players and tournament guests. “It’s awesome to have Sybase on our schedule because you know it’s going to be a first-class event. This golf course is immaculate. I mean, they’ve done a great job,” said Stanford. “It’s a great championship golf course. Everybody, the members, they’ve been so accommodating and just very friendly. It’s been a great week.”