(13 September 2010 – Yoshino, Nara Prefecture, Japan)
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Japanese 24-year-old Saiki Fujita completed a very comfortable victory at the LPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup on Sunday. It was the Japanese Tours&apos second Major of the year, and Fujita was never headed after taking the lead midway through the second round. Australia’s Nikki Campbell finished in outright second, the fourth time she has finished as runner-up this year, while a pair of Koreans finished tied for third; Money List leader Sun-Ju Ahn and Young Kim.
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rnFujita headed into the final round at 10-under par, holding a four shot lead over Yukari Baba with Campbell, Sakura Yokomine and Maiko Wakabayashi all on 5-under par. If there were any nerves for Fujita they weren’t showing as she got off to a dream start with a birdie at the first hole. She then played ‘fairways and greens’ golf making eight-straight pars to finish the front nine. The only player out of the chasing pack to make a run at Fujita was Campbell, who played the front nine in 4-under par to close the gap to just two shots with nine holes to play.
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rnFujita responded to the challenge with a birdie at the 10th hole to stretch the lead to three. Campbell hadn’t given up and another birdie at the 13th hole saw her again pull to within two shots. However, the birdies dried up and both players made pars on holes 14 through 17 and Fujita stood on the last tee with a two-stroke advantage. Her solid play for the week was rewarded with a final hole birdie to finish with a flawless bogey-free 69 and a four shot victory with Campbell making a bogey at the final hole. Fujita later commented about the nerves she had felt on Day 3, saying, “I was so nervous yesterday, but still finished under par, and that gave me a lot of confidence going into today. It’s such an honour to have won a prestigious event like this. It wasn’t easy not being able to win for two years, but this victory has made up for it.”
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rnIt was Fujita’s fourth victory overall and her first since the middle of 2008, however she has posted 6 Top-10’s this season. She now sits 3rd on the Money List after collecting in excess of AUD$300,000 for the win. Ahn leads the prestigious money title race with ¥72,133,500 (approx. AUD$924,196) in year to date prizemoney.
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rnWhile disappointed with her final hole bogey, Nikki Campbell would be pleased with her challenge at the runaway leader. She moved up to 7th on the Money List with ¥48,458,475 (approx. AUD$620,865) in year to date prizemoney. Tamie Durdin also made the cut, finishing in a tie for 17th at 1-over par and moved up to 41st on the Money List with ¥14,510,00 (approx. AUD$185,906) in prizemoney, remembering she also played 8 tournaments on the LPGA.
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Photo courtesy of LPGA of Japan.