Rosales bests wind, Wie to win SBS title

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

KAHUKU — Comfortable on a blustery roller coaster that would make many golfers gag, Jennifer Rosales rode the wind and her wonderful opening round to a victory in the inaugural SBS Open at Turtle Bay yesterday.

Michelle Wie birdied the 18th hole for her best LPGA finish, tied for second, in her 18 tour starts. Jennifer Rosales earned $150,000 for her victory yesterday at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay Resort. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

She won by two shots over Cristie Kerr (72) and Wie (70), the hard-charging 15-year-old who was the only player to shoot three sub-par rounds at a Palmer Course buffeted by winds that gusted up to 40 mph yesterday.

Last year Rosales, 26, became the first from the Philippines to win an LPGA event. On a serene day in Georgia, she shot 65 in the final round and waited — chain smoking and chained to her cell phone — for everyone else to finish.

"My first win was so different because I had to wait so long, just praying," she recalled yesterday. "It was 45 minutes, but it felt like a week. But it turned out my way that week, and this week too."

This was drastically different. Rosales went wire-to-wire at windy Turtle Bay, with a practically flawless first-round 66 putting her two ahead. She held that gap with a late charge Friday after almost letting it, and her emotions, get away.

She doubled her advantage with two birdies in the first six holes yesterday. Then she admittedly got "too greedy." Stuck with a "crappy lie" on the seventh hole, Rosales tried to "muscle" her approach shot over the water to the green.

The ball splashed and suddenly the afternoon had some drama. Rosales took a double-bogey 6 to fall to 9-under. When Kerr, her playing partner, birdied the next hole the gap was just one.

Wie also birdied the eighth, blasting her putt 35 feet to the hole — "I completely hit it too hard, a complete home run" — and watching in amazement as it "bounced up seven inches" and dropped back in.

Buoyed by her luck, she admittedly "got greedy" too. She tried to launch her second shot to the green at No. 9 (511-yard par-5) and hooked it into the mud. Wie chipped safely to the far side of the green, then blew her 60-foot putt 10 feet by the hole and missed again. It was only her second three-putt of the week.

Rosales

The bogey, on a very birdie-able hole, would ultimately cost her a realistic shot at history. Wie, attempting to become the youngest LPGA champion by nearly three years, rallied on the back nine with three birdie putts, lipping out two others. She also left two chip-ins out by only an inch.

"After that three-putt I calmed down, refocused and I made those two great birdies," Wie said. "Those were really good and got things going. I wanted to go a little bit more under par, but the conditions were tough."

Her first of eight LPGA starts this year — a schedule that includes all four majors — was her best LPGA result, beating the fourth at last year's Kraft Nabisco Championship. This was Wie's 18th LPGA event and she has finished in the top 20 at seven of the past eight.

As an amateur, Wie passed up $78,976.50 with her second-place finish yesterday.

Kerr, who won three times last year, had the best shot at catching Rosales. Her time ran out — in more ways than one.

With Reilley Rankin struggling and Rosales in trouble at No. 7, the threesome fell behind Wie's group, which needed 2 hours and 45 minutes to play the front nine. The group was put on the clock by officials. Kerr didn't cope well, bogeying 10, 11 and 13 before she got a grip.

"I got within a shot of her and then we were kind of running up to our third shot on the ninth hole. I didn't make a good shot there," Kerr said. "After that I just never regained that little bubble you go into when you're playing well.

"I just made too many mistakes, whether it was because we were being timed or whatever ... I could have put a little more pressure on her."

It was too late. Rosales regretted trying to drop the hammer on the seventh hole, admitting it caused her all kinds of back-nine consternation. But she dealt with it, shrugging off bogeys at Nos. 13 and 15 with the help of a die-in-the-hole 10-foot par putt on the hole in between.

Jennifer Rosales earned $150,000 for her victory yesterday at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay Resort. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"At the end of the year I got really close at the Open and tour championship," Rosales recalled. "It kills me every time I give it away. I sat down last night before I went to sleep thinking the whole time what's my game plan, what's my focus. Take one shot at a time, don't panic, breathing. That's what I did today."

Her caddy Donna Earley insisted it wasn't that difficult to keep the emotional Rosales from falling off the roller coaster. She just kept reminding her to believe in herself, and what she was seeing.

"I just told her you're doing everything right ..." Earley said. "She hit it so well all three days. She does not have a problem believing in herself."

After the past three years, particularly after the $693,000 Rosales won last year, she has pretty much everybody believing.

"Jennifer played great," said Kerr, who played with the winner twice this week. "She didn't make that many mistakes. Maybe it was just her week."

NOTES

Cashing in: Turtle Bay representative Dorothy Delasin closed fast, firing her best round (70) in the worst conditions yesterday. She finished tied for 14th at even-par 216. Waikoloa Beach representative Cindy Rarick was even par after 10 holes when her group started running behind. After the official started timing the players, Rarick played the final eight holes in 4-over. She tied for 45th at 221.

Next up: Michelle Wie will next play in the Safeway International, March 17 to 20 in Arizona. The following week she is back at the Kraft Nabisco, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Wie has two Top-10 finishes at that LPGA major.

Either end: The 10th hole (391-yard par-4) was the most difficult this week, playing .385 over par. The third hole (452-yard par-5) was the easiest, at 4.627. Five of the tournament's eight eagles were on that hole.

Hana hou: The LPGA played its Hawaiian Ladies Open on Turtle Bay's original course from 1987 to 1989. The SBS Open is in the first year of a five-year agreement. That makes Cristie Kerr, and others, happy. "It's a good course, good for the LPGA," Kerr said. "It's interesting, all the holes are different and it's in great condition."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.