GLADSTONE, N.J., July 3 (UPI) -- Marisa Baena beat Menna Lee, 1-up Sunday to win the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship.
Baena, ranked 60th in the 64-player field, picked up her biggest career payday, winning $500,000, the richest first-place prize in LPGA Tour history. Lee had beaten Wendy Ward, 1-up, to advance to the championship match.
Lee, a rookie who was not in the field last week at the U.S. Women's Open, won $300,000 for her second runner-up finish of 2005. She tied for second at the LPGA Corning Classic.
In the consolation match, Ward overcame a 3-down deficit to defeat Candie Kung, 2 & 1. Ward ran in a pair of 15-foot birdie putts at 15 and 17 to close the door on Kung, who beat world No. 1 seed Annika Sorenstam in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
