The LPGA Tour's newest winner is making a career change of sorts this week.
Wendy Ward captured the Fieldcrest Cannon Classic on Sunday by recording the lowest score in relation to par in the 47-year history of the tour.While a 23-under total might leave most players thinking about rushing to the next event to try to continue their hot play, Ward is getting on a plane with her fiance, Nate Hair, and heading to the Pacific Northwest.
Hair, a golf pro who is supplementing his income by caddying on the LPGA Tour, is playing in the Eastern Washington State Open. Ward will be carrying his bag.
"Nate and I are switching roles this week," she said.
Ward doesn't expect to be paid for her new job, which is not a problem after she won $82,500 on Sunday.
Ward, who went into the final round at the Peninsula Club with a six-stroke lead, closed with a 2-under 70 to defeat Rosie Jones and Jane Geddes by two shots.
Ward's winning total was three shots better than the previous record of 20-under, first recorded by Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez in the 1985 Henredon Classic.
B.C. Open
At Endicott, N.Y., Gabriel Hjertstedt figured he was headed back to tour school. Now he's going to the Masters.
Hjertstedt recovered from bogeys on his first two holes Sunday and shot a 2-under 70 to win the B.C. Open by one stroke over Andrew Magee, Lee Rinker and Chris Perry.
Hjertstedt (pronounced YET'-shtead) became the first Swede to win on the PGA Tour and his first-place check of $234,000 moved him from 226th on the money list to 90th. Hjertstedt's birdie on the treacherous 312-yard No. 16 at En-Joie Golf Club broke a four-way tie for the lead.
Hjertstedt, 26, who finished at 275, sank a 5-foot putt for birdie on 16, which is surrounded by nine sand traps. That put him at 13-under and he parred out for his first win as a pro, which will give him his tour card for two more years.
Emerald Coast Classic
At Milton, Fla., Isao Aoki made an 18-foot birdie on the first hole of a playoff with Gil Morgan to win the Emerald Coast Classic.
Aoki, who set a Senior PGA Tour record with a 10-under-par 60 on Saturday, shot a 65 for a 54-hole score of 14-under 196.
"That was not a fluke," the Japanese star said of his first victory in a frustrating year that has included five second-place finishes. He earned $165,000 to boost his season total to $1,137,728.
Hale Irwin, a seven-time winner this year who leads the money list with a record $1,778,864, tied for third with Bob Duval, Jay Sigel and Simon Hobday at 10-under 200.