Taiwan’s Teresa Lu yesterday fired one-under-par round of 71 for a final-round total of 204 to score a five-shot victory at the Nichirei Cup World Ladies Golf Tournament in Chiba, Japan.
It was her second title of the year on the LPGA of Japan Tour, following a win at the Studio Alice Women’s Open in April, and the 14th of her career on the LPGA of Japan Tour.
Lu has been in good form in recent months, finishing in the top 10 in four of her six most recent competitions.
Photo: Liberty Times
Lu’s final round 71 gave her a three-day score of 204, or 12 under-par, to finish five shots clear of Japanese trio Saki Takeo, Rumi Yoshiba and Miyu Shinkai, as they tied at 209 for second place.
The tournament has an ¥80 million (US$721,326) purse.
Lu entered yesterday’s final round with a comfortable four-shot lead over Shinkai, but that lead was down to one after seven holes.
“I did not play very well today and I started to feel the pressure when I saw how well she was playing,” Lu said of Shinkai, who was in her final-round grouping. “I was a bit shocked to make bogey on the par-5 seventh hole.”
However, Lu matched Shinkai’s birdie on the ninth hole, and an approach shot to within 90cm of the par-5 10th hole led to another birdie that helped her retake the lead.
After Shinkai bogeyed on the 12th and 13th holes, and Lu hit another birdie on the 14th, Lu was able to cruise to victory.
Lu, 29, who has been playing regularly in Japan since 2010, earned ¥14.4 million with the victory and moved up to second on this year’s LPGA of Japan Tour money list with winnings of ¥55.5 million.
Taiwan’s Phoebe Yao had her best performance of the season as she carded a five-under-par 211 to finish in sixth place.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was