Japanese star Ai Miyazato rallied to win the season-opening Honda PTT LPGA Thailand yesterday, holing a birdie chip on the final hole for a nine-under 63 and a one-stroke victory over Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.
Miyazato, six strokes behind Pettersen after the third round, was six-under in a six-hole stretch midway through the round, then birdied three of the last six holes to match the tournament record of 21 under set by Pettersen in October 2007.
Miyazato earned US$195,000 for her second LPGA Tour title. She also won the Evian Masters last year in France.
PHOTO: AFP
Pettersen finished with a 70. She had a chance to force a playoff on the par-five 18th, but missed a 23-foot eagle try.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng (69) was third, six strokes back at 15 under for US$91,288.
Karrie Webb (67) and Cristie Kerr (70) followed at 13 under, and Laura Davies 65), Maria Hjorth (71), Momoko Ueda (72) and Kim Song-hee (73) were 12 under.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa had a 72 to tie for 18th at 6 under, and Michelle Wie closed with a 69 to tie for 22nd at 5 under.
Taiwan’s Candie Kung earned US$7,165 after shooting a 68 for three over.
Miyazato began her big mid-round run with a birdie on the par-four sixth, then eagled the par-five seventh and added birdies on Nos. 9-11 to cut Pettersen’s lead to a stroke.
Pettersen dropped a stroke on the par-four ninth with her first bogey of the tournament, but birdied the par-five 10th for the fourth straight day to push her advantage back to two strokes. Miyazato quickly countered, birdieing the 13th to again pull within one, and making another birdie on 15 to tie Pettersen at 20 under.
Pettersen fell back with a bogey on 16, then settled for a birdie on 18 after missing her eagle try.
■MATCH PLAY
AFP, TUCSON, ARIZONA
Colombian Camilo Villegas had a chance to end a long day on a high note, but he squandered it.
Faced with a three-foot putt to advance to the final at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Villegas missed to let Englishman Paul Casey live to fight another day — literally.
With the players locked all square after five extra holes of their semi-final, play was halted in fading light.
The match was to resume yesterday morning, with the winner to meet Ian Poulter in the 36-hole final of the World Golf Championships event at Dove Mountain.
For Casey, the extended match was a big change from his previous outings this week. He advanced to the semi-finals with a 5 and 4 victory over British Open champion Stewart Cink on Saturday morning — his fourth 5 and 4 result of the week.
Poulter qualified for the final in style with a 7 and 6 hammering of Spaniard Sergio Garcia in front of a gallery that swelled to a couple of dozen at times. The match started in a cold rain and strong winds.
“The first five holes you could barely feel your hands,” Garcia said. “It took a little away from the semi-finals. When you’re playing semi-finals of a WGC and you have 30 people watching, it’s not that much fun.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care