Date: June 12, 2017
Author: Mark Hayes

Lee slips late as Ariya goes No.1

Minjee Lee made a bold run at Canada’s Manulife Classic, but tripped with her target in sight.

Lee, 21, began the final round in Cambridge, Ontario, tied sixth and four shots adrift of overnight leader Lexi Thompson, but had her prey in sight with birdies on the fourth, fifth and ninth holes to sit alone in second place.

But four back-nine bogeys, including three between the 11th and 15th, put an end to her chances and left the West Australian tied seventh at 13 under after a closing 72.

That chance was made even more stark when Thompson bogeyed her closing two holes and fell back to 17 under and a playoff against newly minted world No.1 Ariya Jutanugarn and In Gee Chun.

Jutanugarn put an exclamation point on her rise to the top with a superb birdie on the first extra hole to win the playoff and surge past Lydia Ko at the top of the rankings.

Sarah Jane Smith also let slip a chance for a big finish with a flat 76.

The Queenslander made bogey on her first hole after starting at 11 under and never regained the momentum that she established on day three.

Three more bogeys consigned her to a share of 28th place at seven under.

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