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.”
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