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 The two wins could not have been any more different.
Her first win was before a hometown crowd in Beijing and required no
small amount of luck. Trailing most of the day, she hit a shot on
the final hole that she figured was in the water. It barely cleared
the hazard, took a weird and wild hop out of the rough, was running
fast across the green and struck the pin to settle tap-in distance
away for an eagle and a one-shot win over Stacy Lewis.
"I think it was magic," she said.
Sunday at the LPGA Titleholders was sheer skill.
Starting the final round two shots behind and never thinking it was
her tournament to win, the 24-year-old Feng ran off four birdies in
six holes to take the lead, missed three birdie putts inside 6 feet
that could have put it away, and then held off Gerina Piller with
two birdies over the final four holes at Tiburon Golf Club.
Feng closed with a 6-under 66 for a one-shot win over Piller to
claim $700,000, the richest prize in women's golf.
"I actually didn't think I was going to achieve my goal, but I made
it at the last minute at the last tournament in Florida, so I'm
really, really happy," Feng said.
 The only trouble she faced was figuring out how to light the cannon
that signaled the end of the LPGA Tour season. Feng was given that
duty as the winner of the CME Group Titleholders, and once she was
shown how, she was shocked at how quickly she heard the boom.
Feng wasn't the only winner this week along the gulf shores of
Florida. Here were the five biggest winners:
FLAWLESS FENG: Feng played the final 31 holes without a bogey to
make up ground on a strong leaderboard that included some of the
best in women's golf. She only needed three holes to take the lead,
and she came up with two big shots down the stretch. Her 7-iron into
the 15th stopped 8 feet away for a birdie to give her a two-shot
lead, and then she hit a touch pitch behind the green on the par-5
17th that set up a tap-in birdie.
Those were important, because Piller made birdie on both in the
group behind Feng to stay within range.
Feng only wanted to get to 15-under 273, win or lose, and it turned
out to be a winner. She is expected to go to No. 4 in the world
ranking, and her $700,000 check allowed her to finish the season at
No. 4 on the money list.
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AMERICAN GIRL: Lewis shot a 63 on Saturday that
all but wrapped up the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring
average. She was in position Sunday to win the tournament until
a bogey on the front nine that slowed her momentum, and Lewis
never got it back.
Even so, she closed with a 71 to tie for sixth and became the
first American since Beth Daniel in 1994 to win the Vare Trophy.
"As Americans, we hear about that all the time — it's been 18
years or it's been 20 years or whatever it is," Lewis said. "I'm
just glad to have that kind of checked off the list. We've got
to get American golf on the map. That's been the goal and I'm
just fortunate I've been playing good golf."
INBEE PARK: Inbee Park closed with a 68 to finish fifth, but she
was a winner all week. Park, who won three straight majors among
her six wins this year, clinched the LPGA player of the year
last week in Mexico. On Friday night at the Ritz-Carlton, she
delivered one of the most moving acceptance speeches, including
this line, "As soon as happiness became my goal, I achieved more
things than ever."
Park wound up winning the LPGA Tour money title for the second
straight year, both times going over $2 million
PILLER'S BEST: Piller just bought a house in Texas and figured
the $700,000 would go a long way toward paying that off. She
came close. With birdies on the 15th and 17th holes, she stayed
within one shot of Feng and at least gave herself a shot at a
playoff on the 18th. From behind a small native bush, the wind
at her back, she hit 7-iron from 162 yards from 10 feet and
narrowly missed the putt. It didn't go in, but the stroke was
not tentative.
Piller finished the year by playing in her first Solheim Cup
team, and her runner-up finish at the Titleholders was the best
of her career.
LOOKING AHEAD: One of the highlights of the season-ending event
was the announcement of the 2014 schedule. In previous years,
the schedule was so tenuous that it wasn't announced until
January. LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan and his staff put together
a 32-event schedule, up nine tournaments from two years ago.
The LPGA returns at the end of January in The Bahamas.
[Associated
Press; DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer]
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