Pettersen wins 4th tour victory of the year

GYEONGJU, South Korea – Suzann Pettersen was prepared for another challenging round in the cold and wind. The Norwegian star ended up holding yet another trophy Sunday without even hitting a shot.\nPettersen won the Hana Bank KOLON Championship for her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the year when high wind and unplayable conditions on the putting surfaces forced tournament officials to call off the final round at Mauna Ocean resort.\n“I guess it has to kind of sink in that I actually won this tournament,” Pettersen said. “Of course, it’s not the way I want to win. You want to complete the tournament as it is originally set up, but this time the last round wasn’t playable.”\nThe Solheim Cup player opened with a 3-under 69 on Friday and shot a 72 on Saturday in wind and cold to take the lead at 3 under. She’s the first non-South Korean winner in the six-year history of the event.\n“I feel very fortunate to break the Korean streak,” Pettersen said. “Of course, it’s not the way we wanted to end this tournament. It felt like I played 36 great holes. I fought every day and it was very hard.”\nSouth Korea’s Eun-Hee Ji finished a stroke back, compatriots Seon Hwa Lee and Jeong Jang followed at 1-under and Hyun-Hee Moon was fifth at even par. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, coming off her seventh victory of the season last week in the Samsung World Championship, tied for 12th at 3 over after rounds of 72 and 75.\n“I’m disappointed and I think a lot of other people are disappointed that we didn’t get to finish the tournament, but I’m very happy,” Pettersen said. “It’s nice to be back in Korea.”\nThe course was deemed unplayable after days of strong wind on the greens that were already severely stressed by more than 20 inches of rain.