Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls' Sjodin wins Women's World Amateur Team Tournament
October 25, 2004 | Cowgirl Golf
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico — Karin Sjodin and her Swedish cohorts overpowered a hard-charging American team Oct. 23 to win the Women's World Amateur Team Championship by three strokes.
After spending three days lurking beneath Canada's shadow, the Swedes pulled away with a pair of 2-under 70s from Sjodin and Louise Stahle on a soppy, steamy day in Puerto Rico. The U.S. team matched Sweden's final-round 140, but finished in a tie for second with Canada at 6-under 570. Japan, Korea, and Chinese Taipei tied for fourth at 579.
“It is a big celebration day for Sweden and our golf program,” said captain Birgitta Ljung. “They kept their composure. I am so impressed by that.”
The Americans cut the deficit to one stroke on the 15th hole, but the putting woes that plagued the team all week wreaked havoc on the par-3 16th. Both Paula Creamer (69) and Jane Park (71) hit their tee shots right of the green and after chipping to 4 and 3 feet, respectively, watched in disbelief as their balls failed to find the cup.
“Second is never good enough,” said Park. “We tried our best and the putts just didn't fall for us.”
After leading wire-to-wire for the first three days, Canada stumbled to a 1-over 145 on Rio Mar's Ocean Course. Canada has now finished runner-up at the event three times after coming close in 1978 and 1966. Laura Matthews was the mark of consistency for Canada in her third WWATC appearance. The University of Georgia assistant coach shot 70-70-72-73 to finish tied for fourth.
“When we look back in a couple weeks time we'll be thrilled with this,” said Dean Spriddle, Canada's National High Performance Coach. “I think we now know that we can compete at a world level. We expect to be sitting here in a couple year's time, maybe 10 minutes later (for the champion's interview).”
Sjodin's phenomenal fall kept rolling in the Caribbean. After winning the NCAA Fall Preview in September and the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational three weeks ago, the Oklahoma State junior entered the World Amateur Team at the peak of her game.
“I think I'm just more solid,” said Sjodin of her recent play. “I try to play smarter, position the ball at yardages I like instead of getting close to the green and having to chip and pitch.”
Although it's not officially recognized, Sjodin's 8-under 280 performance left her tied for individual honors with Paraguay's Julieta Granada. Sjodin, Golfweek's top-ranked college player, kick-started Sweden's final-round push with an eagle on the par-5 third. A 271-yard drive on the rain-soaked hole left the athletic Swede with a 4-iron for her second shot that she rifled to 3 feet.
“I played with Karin the last two days and she's the longest player I've ever seen,” said Park, who is no slouch off the tee herself. “When she gets on a role she really snowballs.”
Indeed, Sjodin's 275-yard drives at times soared some 70 paces in front of her Canadian counterpart. Clutch putts down the stretch, however, sealed the Espirito Santo Trophy for the Swedes. Sjodin birdied Nos. 14 and 15 while second-ranked Stahle drained a 25-footer for birdie on the par-3 16th.
Sweden is the only country to finish in the top 10 in all 21 World Amateur Team Championships.
“I think we had a very, very strong team this year so it was good to see that we kind of took the chance when we had it,” said Swedish coach Peter Mattsson. “But at the same time this is not the goal of our program. I'm going to be really happy when these girls start competing at the top of the LPGA Tour because that's where we're going.”
Women's World Amateur Team
Final scores with relation to par from the Women's World Amateur Team Championship Oct. 23, played at the par-72, 6,159-yard Ocean Course and par-72, 5,956-yard River Course at Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico:
Top 10 Teams
1. Sweden 144-141-142-140—567 2. United States 139-147-144-140—570 Canada 137-145-143-145—570 4. Japan 147-147-139-146—579 Korea 142-148-144-145—579 Chinese Taipei 143-152-141-143—579 7. Colombia 149-140-143-149—581 8. Spain 144-145-149-145—583 9. Germany 144-152-139-154—589 New Zealand 152-146-146-145—589
Top 10 Individuals
1. Karin Sjodin, Sweden 69-70-71-70—280 Julieta Granada, Paraguay 76-72-63-69—280 3. Jane Park, United States 69-71-73-71—284 4. Maria E. Martinez, Venezuela 69-75-71-70—285 Laura Matthews, Canada 70-70-72-73—285 Ya-Ni Tseng, Chinese Taipei 73-74-69-69—285 7. Paula Creamer, United States 70-76-71-69—286 8. Anastasia Kostina, Russia 70-73-69-75—287 9. Mary Ann Lapointe, Canada 67-78-71-72—288 Louise Stahle, Sweden 75-71-72-70—288
