(21 September 2009 – Mihama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan)
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Sakura Yokomine, who has been overshadowed in recent times by Shinobu Moromizato, bounced back in the best possible fashion with victory at the Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic on Sunday. Yokomine fired rounds of 66, 65 and 68 to finish on 17-under par total 199, one shot in front of legend Yuri Fudoh. Maiko Wakabayashi finished two shots further back in outright third place after a costly double bogey at the last hole.
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rnYokomine began the final day with a slender one shot lead over both Fudoh and Wakabayashi with the consistent Chie Arimura two shots back in fourth place. From the outset it looked to be Yokomine’s day with birdies at the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 8th holes giving her a two shot advantage heading into the back nine. She made another birdie at 11 to sustain that lead until a bogey at 15 brought her back to just one in front of Wakabayashi.
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rnThe tension was starting to build with all three players still in the hunt with three holes to play, Yokomine at -17, Wakabayashi at -16 and Fudoh at -15. All three made par at the 16th before Fudoh edged closer with a birdie at the 17th to move into a tie for second. It came down to the last hole with Yokomine one in front. In a close finish, her par at the last was enough to take the title, with Fudoh also making par while Wakabayashi stumbled to a double bogey.
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rnAfter her round, Yokomine commented, “This win is definitely a big boost. I won a close contest like this for the first time. When I bogeyed the 15th (her only bogey over the three rounds), I thought I would be unsettled, but I was able to stay calm.” It was the likable 23-year-old Japanese star’s 4th victory of the season and the 13th of an already illustrious career on the LPGA of Japan. With her winnings of ¥14,400,000 she passed the ¥500,000,000 mark in career earnings. She is the fastest to complete this milestone, after doing so in 149 tournaments, just ahead of Fudoh who completed the same milestone after 171 tournaments.
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rnNikki Campbell carded rounds of 69, 69 and 73 to finish in a tie for 18th. She was well in the hunt for another Top-10 finish after the second round but slipped down the leaderboard after a closing round of 1-over.
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Photo by Paul Melville – Yuri Fudoh