Delasin sixth, earns P1.2 M

Dorothy Delasin rallied with a three-under par 67 to turn in another top 10 finish — joint sixth — in the $900,000 LPGA Kathy Ireland Championship won by American Rosie Jones via a playoff victory over Korean Mi Hyun Kim.

Delasin could’ve actually landed in solo sixth but a bogey on the par 5 18th enabled three others to tie her at 277, nine strokes off the winning 268 by Jones, who nipped Kim with a four-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole.

It was Delasin’s third top 10 finish in 10 tournaments in the current LPGA season. The 20-year-old Fil-Am shotmaker, who had four birdies in a 33-34 card, won $25,814 (P1,290,700), raising her earnings to $138,443.

Jones became the first American to win this season after non-US players, led by Swede Annika Sorenstam, took the first 10 events on the tour.

Jones won with back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, the first coming in regulation to force the playoff. She chipped her approach from the base of the elevated green to within two feet of the cup. Kim shot a 66.

Jennifer Rosales, who also had two top 10 finishes in 10 events this year, floundered with a 73 and limped in 65th place with 291. She won $1,331.