No longer is there any question: Jennifer Song has the heart of a champion.

In more ways than one. Song, a 20-year-old from Ann Arbor, Mich., won the $100,000 Greater Richmond Golf Classic by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff yesterday at Richmond Country Club.
She captured her second victory of the Duramed Futures Tour season by defeating — barely — 17-year-old Jenny Shin of Torrance, Calif., in an exquisite daylong duel. Both players delivered rounds of 66 yesterday to finish the 54-hole tournament tied at 12-under-par.

Song did nearly as much giving as taking in the aftermath of her victory. She said she intends to donate a third of her $14,000 winner’s check — roughly $4,700 — to a Richmond-area charity.

“I’m very fortunate,” she said. “I’ve got a great family that gives me wonderful support. I’ve been around enough and seen enough to know that a lot of people out there don’t get the help and support they need.

“So I promised my parents and I promised God to donate a third of anything I win to try to help those people and maybe make their lives a little happier.”

Song made her own life considerably happier with a splendid Sunday performance.
She played 20 holes without a bogey. So focused was she on her final putt that
“it was as though I could see the line burned onto the putting surface. All you have to do then is hit it.”

Song and Shin battled like a pair of world-class fencers. For each of Song’s thrusts, Shin produced a parry. On three occasions on the back nine, Song, playing in the group ahead of Shin, pulled ahead with a birdie. Shin answered on each occasion. Not until the playoff, which involved two additional tours of RCC’s demanding 409-yard 18th hole – did Shin run out of replies.

Said Song, a former U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Public Links champion:
“I feel so happy and so relieved. I wanted this so much.”

The ebb and flow of the final round gave Shin two chances to win outright. Her last putt of regulation, a straightforward 12-footer, rolled around the right-hand rim before hopping out of the cup. Her 25-foot birdie try on the first playoff hole singed the left side of the cup. A moment before Song sank her birdie putt on the second playoff hole, Shin burned the right side of the hole with a 35-footer.

“Every time I putted today, every single time, whether in the playoff or the regular 18, I expected it to make it,” Shin said. Her harvest included a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the par-5 9th hole and a 40-footer from the fringe at the par-3 15th.

“I was so confident and felt so sure,” Shin said.

Australian Stephanie Na shot 69 and finished alone in third place at 9 under. Jenny Gleason shot 68 and climbed into fourth place at 8 under. Reilley Rankin, who either owned or shared the lead following each of the first two rounds, shot 72 and finished in a tie for eighth.

GREATER RICHMOND CLASSIC
(6,278 yards, par 72, at Richmond Country Club)

x-won on second playoff hole
x-Jennifer Song, $14,000 ......68-70-66—204
Jenny Shin, $10,000 ..............71-67-66—204
Stephanie Na, $7,125….........68-70-69—207
Jenny Gleason, $5,098 ..........72-68-68—208
Dewi C. Schreefel, $3,314…..69-72-68—209
Cindy LaCrosse, $3,314 ........72-69-68—209
Amelia Lewis, $3,314 ............68-70-71—209
Angela Oh, $2,123…..............72-68-70—210
Reilley Rankin, $2,123…........66-72-72—210
Whitney Wade, $1,548….......72-71-68—211
Sarah Brown, $1,548…..........69-70-72—211
Dori Carter, $1,548 ...............70-69-72—211
D. Ford Bordner, $1,548….....69-69-73—211
Christine Song, $1,223….......69-74-69—212
Ashley Prange, $1,223 ..........70-71-71—212
Tiffany Tavee, $1,058 ...........72-74-67—213
Whitney Myers, $1,058…......69-71-73—213
Ryann O’Toole, $883…..........70-77-67—214
Esther Choe, $883…..............74-71-69—214
Paola Moreno, $883…...........72-71-71—214
Juli Erekson, $883 .................71-72-71—214
Kitty Hwang, $883 ................72-71-71—214
Eileen Vargas, $883 ..............72-70-72—214
M. Eaton-Jackson, $883….....67-71-76—214
Nontaya Srisawang, $789…..76-70-69—215
Michelle Jarman, $789….......73-72-70—215
Jessi Gebhardt, $789…..........74-71-70—215
Veronica Felibert, $789 ........72-72-71—215
Sophia Sheridan, $789….......74-69-72—215
W. Sirisampant, $789 ...........70-72-73—215
Laura Crawford, $789…........69-71-75—215
Min Seo Kwak, $748 .............70-74-72—216
Lisa Meldrum, $748 ..............72-71-73—216
Tzu-Chi Lin, $718 ..................72-74-71—217
Carolina Llano, $718 .............73-72-72—217
Leanne Bowditch, $718 ........73-72-72—217
Hanna Kang, $718…..............72-73-72—217
Caroline Westrup, $718….....74-71-72—217
Lauren Doughtie, $718 ... 69-75-73—217
a-Inhong Lim ........................72-71-74—217
Lauren Hunt, $718 ................71-72-74—217
Stephanie Connelly, $680 .....72-75-71—218
Jane Rah, $680…...................74-73-71—218
Selanee Henderson, $680 .....72-73-73—218
Katie Kempter, $680…..........70-74-74—218
Kathleen Ekey, $680 .............72-71-75—218
Kendall Dye, $680…..............73-69-76—218
Mo Martin, $680 ...................70-72-76—218
Tiffany Joh, $643…................71-76-72—219
Susan Nam, $643 ..................75-72-72—219
a-Valentine Derrey ...............71-75-73—219
V. Nirapathpongporn, $643 ..71-75-73—219
Tracy Stanford, $643 ............78-68-73—219
Aimee Cho, $643…................74-71-74—219
Ayaka Kaneko, $643 .............73-72-74—219
Hannah Jun, $643…...............74-71-74—219
Rachel Bailey, $643…............73-71-75—219
Dolores White, $613 .............74-72-74—220
Lehua Wise, $613…...............71-75-74—220
Nicole Jeray, $613…..............72-73-75—220
Erica Moston, $613 ...............70-75-75—220
Lucy Nunn, $613 ...................72-73-75—220
Sofie Andersson, $613 ..........72-72-76—220
Kristin Ingram, $613 .............70-72-78—220
Chelsea Curtis, $589…..........73-74-74—221
Gerina Mendoza, $589….......72-75-74—221
Jasi Acharya, $589 ................72-74-75—221
Laura Bavaird, $589…...........71-75-75—221
Katie Miller, $589 .................72-73-76—221
Blair Lamb, $589…................71-72-78—221
Nicole Smith, $577….............74-73-76—223
Tara Goedeken, $577….........77-70-76—223
Seul Ki Park, $573…..............74-72-78—224
Kylene Pulley, $573 ..............73-69-82—224
Bree Arthur, $570 .................73-73-79—225