Relaxed Kung put on a show

Adam Candee

Monday, April 21, 2003 | 10:06 a.m.

OK, scoop the ball from the hole, wave to the crowd, crack a little smile and walk off the green.

From her actions Saturday on the 18th green, it would be easy to think Candie Kung had just tapped in a two-putt par to drop into a seven-way tie for 34th place.

Instead, Kung, a 21-year-old from Taiwan, had just earned her first LPGA tour victory at the LPGA Takefuji Classic, shooting a final-round 70 to finish 12-under and separate from a pack seemingly intent on doing just enough to hand off the trophy.

Kung won $165,000 and a three-year tour exemption by maintaining her cool demeanor throughout the pressurized final round. Afterward, there was no jumping or shouting, no exulted arms in the air, no hugging family, not so much as a Tiger Woods fist pump.

"It feels great, that's all I can say about it," Kung said. "It's awesome."

Kung held off late charges by defending champion Annika Sorenstam and Soo-Yun Kang, as well as a strong early effort by Cristie Kerr. All finished two strokes back at 10-under.

Along the back nine, Kung sounded the death knell for her competitors as quietly as she celebrated her victory. She surged ahead at No. 12, watched as the rest of her group faltered on the next two holes, and then placed her spikes squarely over the throat of the field with a birdie putt from downtown Taipei at No. 15.

"(Candie) is a really young strong player and she has a bright future," Kerr said.

Kung began the day tied for the lead with Scotland's Catriona Matthew at 10-under, and Kerr (-9) rounded out the final group. Kung sliced her drive at No. 1 and bogeyed to drop into second.

"That first bogey didn't really affect me at all," Kung said.

She would grind her way through the front nine with seven consecutive pars, and finally break through with a birdie at the par-5 9th hole. That steady hand already bested Matthew, who double-bogeyed No. 8, a straight-shot par 4. Only five holes played easier in the three-day tournament.

Kerr grabbed the lead at the turn by going out in 34, yet Kung had no idea. An understated Southern Californian, she claims never to check out the competition.

"I did not look at the leaderboard at all," Kung said.

Momentum turned at No. 10, as Kung confidently sank an short birdie putt and Kerr started a late trend of yielding scoring chances by missing her birdie chance. Matthew missed a tap-in birdie at No. 11 and then tossed up back-to-back bogeys to announce her resignation from contention.

A confident uphill birdie putt at the par-4 12th hole sent Kung into the lead. Still trailing by just one, Kerr pulled her tee shot at No. 14 into the sand and could not get up and down to save par, while Kung calmly converted a long two-putt par.

Sensing the opportunity to grab control, Kung ripped a perfect drive down the left side at the par-4 15th hole, but followed it by pulling her wedge well left of the pin. What followed was Kung's dagger.

"For some reason this week, I've been feeling good about putting all week long," Kung said.

Kung perfectly read the slight left-to-right break on the 30-footer to go to 13-under, a 3-shot edge over the pack. The final three holes proved but a formality as Kung, a second-year pro who took up golf just eight years ago, played a conservative game, eventually three-putting at No. 18 for a bogey and the win.

Kung admitted to needing distractions on the final holes, counting hotel rooms at the Hilton with her caddie and fixating on the winding Stratosphere tower roller coaster.

"I was nervous a little bit," Kung said. "Well, not a little bit -- probably a lot."

Sorenstam shot her second consecutive 67, but her opening-round 72 proved too much to overcome. Kerr came in Saturday in 37, her highest nine-hole total of the tournament. Kang went out in 32 but could not sustain the pace to catch Kung.