Recari wins first LPGA Tour title
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Spain's Beatriz Recari won the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title, overcoming soggy conditions and a late bogey for a one-stroke victory over France's Gwladys Nocera.
The 23-year-old Recari, a tour rookie who made cuts in only three of her first 13 stroke-play events this season, rebounded from a bogey on the No. 17 with a par on the 18th for a 2-under 70 and a 14-under 274 total on the Blackhawk Country Club course.
Nocera birdied the final hole for a 70.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michele Redman (76) and Karine Icher (70) tied for third at 12 under.
Cristie Kerr missed a chance to overtake Ai Miyazato for the No. 1 ranking, closing with a 70 to tie for fifth with Wendy Ward (72) at 11 under. Kerr needed to at least tie for third to take the top spot.
The win ended a 14-month world victory drought for Recari, who nearly tripled her career winnings with the $165,000 first-place prize.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Her last win professional came on the Ladies European Tour at the Finnair Masters in August 2009 when she blew a five-stroke lead on the final day before winning in a playoff.
Recari hadn't had much success since leaving the LET. That changed when she calmly sank a 2-foot putt on the 18th, then immediately jumped into the arms of her caddie under a steady drizzle of rain.
The weather affected the final round and made it tough to gain ground after the tournament began in 95-degree heat Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The leaders found that out the hard way.
The 45-year-old Redman, seeking her first win since 2000, went into the final round tied with Recari and Ilhee Lee but couldn't hold on.
After falling a stroke behind when Recardi birdied No. 6, Redman pulled even with a birdie on the ninth but fell behind again after pushing her tee shot right on the par-3, 10th. The ball settled in thick, wet rough and Redman's chip shot fell 3 feet shy of the green. She settled for bogey.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lee, a rookie from South Korea who nearly quit the tour this year after missing seven straight cuts, bogeyed three of the first four holes Sunday and fell off the pace with a 78. Lee tied for 15th at 6 under.
Recari had her problems, too.
She birdied the third but gave the stroke back two holes later with a bogey on the par-5 fifth. A birdie on the sixth put her in front again and she added birdies on Nos. 13 and 14.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Recari's bogey on 17 coupled with Nocera's birdie on the 18th cut the lead to one. With Nocera standing close by, Recari avoided a playoff by two-putting from just off the front of the green.
Brittany Lincicome, the first-round leader after a course-record 61, shot a 70 to tie for eighth at 9 under.