Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District    

Hickory Point Golf Course

Decatur, Illinois

June 14, 2015 

Sunday News & Notes

DECATUR, Ill., June 14, 2015 -

Jimin Kang was declared the unofficial winner of the Decatur-Forsyth Classic after Tour officials and tournament staff suspended second-round play at 1:25 p.m. on Sunday and the tournament was officially shortened. Kang won the 18-hole event at 8-under 64, which she completed on Friday just before the horns sounded. This is the first tournament shortened to 18-holes since the 2010 Mercedes Benz of Kansas City Championship. Prior to that, the last shortened-to-18-hole-event was the 1998 Green Mountain National FUTURES Classic.

“It’s unfortunate when you have a committed group of sponsors, volunteers and staff that sometimes Mother Nature has other plans,” said Epson Tour Chief Business Officer Mike Nichols. “The Epson Tour and its players are grateful to the municipalities and citizens of Decatur and Forsyth for welcoming us to Central Illinois for a 31st consecutive year.  When you’ve hosted an event for that long, you will surely “see it all” – and unfortunately a sunny event was not in the cards this year.  We can only hope that the 32nd tournament brings us the beautiful weather everyone involved deserves.”

Kang posted a 7-under 29 on the front nine on Friday and her 8-under was good for a three stroke unofficial win over Maude-Aimee Leblanc (-5). Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu finished solo third at 4-under 68.  

“It feels good, but I wish we could have played 36-holes more, but unfortunately we couldn’t,” said Kang, who was at her hotel in Decatur when she was declared the winner. “I’m happy, but we were all looking forward to playing more golf.”

The first-round of the Decatur-Forsyth Classic resumed at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday at Hickory Point Golf Course and finally came to a close at 12:47 p.m., a total time of 53 hours and 17 minutes to complete round one. At 1:30 p.m., with the second-round underway, play was suspended as a strong cell left standing water on the already saturated course. Within thirty minutes, Tour officials gathered the players and announced that the tournament would be officially shortened. 

Kang, who has two career LPGA Tour wins and four career Epson Tour wins, has had a tremendous season. She now has two wins (one official win) and has finished inside the top 25 in every event she’s played.

“My game is really, really getting better,” said Kang, who missed most of 2013 on the LPGA Tour. “I’m getting better quicker than I thought at the start of the season. I really felt like this could be my week and it turned out to be my day.”Kang will earn the $16,500 first-place payout, but the money will not count towards the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The entire purse will be paid out to the top 70 and ties.

“I’ve been really patient over the last 48 hours,” said Kang with a smile. “I kept checking my email over and over again waiting for the updates so I didn’t do much, but I kept myself ready.”

Kang was 100 percent behind the decision to shorten the event to 18 holes.

“The staff, the volunteers and everyone did everything they could to make the tournament work,” said Kang. “I respect the decision based on the weather and course.”

Two-time tournament winner Nicole Jeray, who finished in a tie for fourth at 3-under, also agreed.

“They (Tour) made the right decision, they are the ones with the experience and I feel like they did the best job they could because you can’t control the rain,” said the Berwyn, Illinois native. “The weather we just had wasn’t even on the radar and the storms we had on Friday weren’t on the radar.”

Maude-Aimee Leblanc had two and half holes to play on Sunday to complete her first-round and made birdie on the last hole to get to 5-under and finish in sole possession of second place. It turned out to be a big putt.

“It was big to birdie the final hole and keep the momentum from Friday because I was playing well,” said Leblanc. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to come back on the course.”

Shannon Fish needed just one putt to conclude her first-round at 3-under 69. She finished in a 12-way tie for fourth. 

“It was an interesting first-round to say the least, but it was out of our control,” said Fish. “ I’ve taken up knitting, so that has helped me pass the time, but a lot of it is just sitting around and waiting for the updates. We’re not in control and the Tour is not in control of the weather.”

Luciane Lee, who was also on the 18th green with Fish, said it was one of the craziest first-rounds she has ever been a part of.

“It was really weird to start on the green, I’ve never had the happen to me,” said Lee, who finished at 1-over. “It was easy for me because all I had to practice was putting, but I just stayed patient over the last few days.”