Kerr Fires 65 to Take Kia Classic


Cristie Kerr closed with a 7-under 65 to win the LPGA Tour's $1.7 million Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif.

The 37-year-old posted four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the home half to finish at 20-under 268, breaking the tournament's 72-hole scoring record and overtaking South Korean Mirim Lee for the 17th victory of her stellar career.

The win was Kerr's first since the Kingsmill Championship in May 2013.

"I love to win," said the emotional Floridian, the first American-born champion of the event. "Golf has always been great to me, always given me special moments like this. I've been working with a new coach, and I definitely found something this week.

"He said I was going to have a hot round, and he was right. I just found something. I'm just real happy right now."

Part of the reason for Kerr's lengthy absence from the winner's circle was her pregnancy and the birth of her now-15-month-old son, Mason, who was there to greet her after she finished with a meaningless three-putt bogey on the par-4 18th.

"It was just amazing having him there, and he just gave me a big smile and a squeak," Kerr noted of her young son. "He's screaming now. That's his thing, and I always hoped this day would come. And now it has. Just so proud."

Lee, the 54-hole leader, was right in the mix on the back nine. But following an eagle on the par-4 16th when she drove the green and sank a 4-foot putt, the 24-year-old immediately double-bogeyed the par-5 17th after pushing her drive into trees. Lee finished with a 70, two strokes behind Kerr.

No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko posted her second straight 67 to end up in third at 271, while another stroke back was American Alison Lee (71). No. 2 Inbee Park (67) took fifth, while tied for sixth at 274 were two South Koreans, Ha Na Jang and Hyo-Joo Kim.

Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn shared eighth with Japan's Sakura Yokomine, with Americans Paula Creamer and Lexi Thompson tied for 10th at 276 with South Koreans Ilhee Lee and Se Ri Pak, and Sweden's Anna Nordqvist, the defending champion. Ilhee Lee was the third player to match the course record of 64 this week, joining Morgan Pressel and Pak.

Kerr admitted that she might have put too much pressure on herself to get a victory after the birth of her son. "I think when I got in contention last year, I thought about winning a little too much, wanting him to be on the green," she told reporters.

"But you know, everything happens for a reason and last year he couldn't have run out to meet me. So maybe that was fate, too. But it was just huge."