Han Wins, but Course Is Made for Squawking

Hee-Won Han won the LPGA’s much-delayed Office Depot Championship Monday at Trump National Golf Club as the tour’s top player questioned whether the course was suited to host a professional tournament.

“I think logistically this course does not set up for a competition like this,” Annika Sorenstam said after finishing tied for ninth with a final-round 70.

With its tight fairways, multi-tiered layout, narrow cart paths and few shortcuts between holes, the Trump course in Rancho Palos Verdes proved difficult to navigate despite its lavishness.

Players searching for balls in the thick brush or waiting for officials to arrive to make rulings contributed to rounds lasting as long as six hours.

That, plus a 3 1/2 -hour fog delay Saturday, produced the first non-playoff Monday finish on the tour since 1999, though players said ocean views made the waits more bearable.

Sorenstam said not only rules officials, but fans as well, found it difficult to move from hole to hole.

“You pretty much have to be a goat to walk this course,” she said.

Sorenstam emphasized there were “a lot of positives” about the venue, noting that the galleries -- until Monday -- were the largest she has seen in Los Angeles area for the LPGA.

“The support has been fantastic,” she said. “Maybe we need to find a flat course in the neighborhood.”

In claiming the fourth tour title of her career, Han conquered the course with accuracy off the tee, not driving distance. Her 12-under-par total of 201 included only three bogeys, and she had at least a share of the lead after every round.

Han completed a final-round 68 Monday, leaving her two shots ahead of fellow South Korean Soo-Yun Kang, who finished at five-under par 66 in each of the final two rounds.

“I just hit the fairways and the greens and kept thinking that, because this course is pretty undulated and the fairways are undulated,” Han said.

Catriona Matthew of Scotland finished third, four strokes behind Han, and Natalie Gulbis and Karine Icher of France tied for fourth, five strokes back.

A tournament that produced its share of quirks produced one final twist Monday.

Paula Creamer, the LPGA rookie of the year, was disqualified after calling officials after the tournament ended when she realized she had broken a rule by changing the clubs in her bag between the beginning of her final round Sunday and the conclusion of it Monday.

Creamer, who had tied for 23rd, forfeited $11,859 for taking a five-iron out of her bag and replacing it with a three-wood.

Continuing her round a day later turned out to be trouble for Creamer, but it might have saved Han.

She was leading by only one when darkness fell Sunday after she had played eight holes, bogeying No 4. She returned Monday and birdied her first two holes. Her last shaky moment came when a par putt on No. 17 threatened to lip out, then dropped.

Han liked the course just fine, by the way.

“Pretty nice, nice view,” she said.

Despite the problems, there was enthusiasm among organizers and LPGA officials about returning to the course. But there is not yet a contract for next season, and organizers are still talking to potential sponsors.

Some problems might be alleviated by trimming the field to fewer than 144 players, adding a sixth rulings official and working with course management to improve maneuverability, LPGA official Angus MacKenzie said.

A date earlier in the season when days are longer and fog is less likely also might help.

“Something needs to be done,” Sorenstam said.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Ups and downs

Final 54-hole scores of the Home Depot Center Championship at the par-71 Trump National Golf Club:

201 (-12)--$195,000

Hee-Won Han...65-68-68

203 (-10)--$117,899

Soo-Yun Kang...71-66-66

205 (-8)--$85,527

Catriona Matthew...69-68-68

206 (-7)--$59,708

Natalie Gulbis...66-69-71

Karine Icher...65-68-73

OTHERS

209 (-4)--$25,416

Annika Sorenstam...69-70-70