Morning 9: Smiling Cinderella | Bubble boys & card losers | The Postman delivers a bogey-free tournament

• “The clock never struck midnight for Smiling Cinderella. Playing in her first LPGA event, 20-year-old Hinako Shibuno, exuding a passion that melted hearts and won over minds, birdied the final hole on Sunday to take the AIG Women’s British Open by one stroke over Lizette Salas in a dramatic ending to a sensational day of golf featuring brilliant performances by a slew of players.”

• “Shibuno, a rookie on the Japan LPGA, was the only player in the field to shoot all four rounds at Woburn Golf Club in the 60s. She simply owned the back nine, shooting 30 there twice and then 31 on Sunday for a closing 68 that put her at 18-under-par 270. She now has the option to join the LPGA.”

Full piece.

• AP report…”J.T. Poston kept racking up birdies and pars — but no bogeys — at the Wyndham Championship. They added up to his first PGA Tour victory — and a first-time-in-decades achievement.”

• “Poston shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory at the tour’s regular-season finale.”

• “He tied Henrik Stenson’s 2-year-old tournament record at 22-under 258, and became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to win a 72-hole stroke-play event on tour without any bogeys or worse.”

Full piece.

• What she was thinking over the putt: “I told myself, ‘You’ve got this. You’re made for this,’” Salas said. “I’m not going to lie. I was nervous. I haven’t been in that position in a long time, but I gave it a good stroke. I controlled all my thoughts. It just didn’t drop.

• And…”To pull off a 65 on a Sunday at a major like this, it’s pretty awesome,” she said. “Pretty proud of myself.”

• “This is all great momentum going into Solheim,” she said. “This is great for my confidence. I just turned 30 a couple weeks ago, and I feel like I’m kind of reborn. I’m just happy to be in this position.”

• “Pretty good for a tournament that seemed to be a target for extinction 14 years ago. The tour was in the process of re-organizing its schedule in order to launch the FedEx Cup Playoffs starting in 2007, and the tournament’s title sponsor, Chrysler, had let it be known that it wouldn’t be renewing after its contract ran out following the 2006 tournament. Forest Oaks, the site of the event since 1977, was one of the least popular venues on tour with most players. The tour had made it clear for years that tradition and history had nothing to do with deciding a tournament’s future. Money and money did.”

• “And so, the tournament that Snead had won eight times, seemed likely to go the way of the Kemper Open and the Westchester Classic under the new tour setup.”

Full piece, pics.