(17 October 2011 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
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Rolex World No. 4 Na Yeon Choi captured her first victory of the season at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. It was also the 100th LPGA Tour win by a player of Korean descent. Choi fired a final round 4-under par 68 to hold off a Sunday charge from Rolex World No. 1 Yani Tseng who posted a final round of 6-under par 65. Spain’s Azahara Munoz finished in outright third, her best ever LPGA finish.
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rnTseng started the final day four shots behind Choi, who led by one from Brittany Lang with Munoz another shot back in third. Tseng, playing the group in front of Choi signaled her intentions with an opening hole birdie. A bogey at the 2nd set her back but she was quickly back on track with birdies at the 3rd, 6th and 7th holes to reach 11-under par, just one behind Choi.
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rnChoi got off to a slow start with a double-bogey on the second hole. But she got things moving with birdies on No. 6 and No. 8 to regain the shots she dropped at the start of her round. By the time the players got to the turn, Lang and Choi were tied at 12-under with Tseng at 11-under and Munoz on 10-under.
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rnLang actually hit the front with a birdie on the 11th hole but from there she again proved how difficult it is to get the first win under the belt. From the 13th hole she finished bogey, bogey, birdie, double, par and bogey to drop four shots and slip into a tie for 5th.
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rnMeanwhile, after Tseng joined Choi at 12-under with a birdie at the 11th, Choi edged ahead with her own birdie at the 12th hole. They both made birdie at the 15th hole before tseng again joined the lead with another birdie at the 16th. However, Tseng missed a birdie opportunity on No. 17 while Choi hit her tee shot to five feet for birdie. She sank the putt and took a one-shot lead into the final hole where she made par to complete her win.
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rnAfter her round Choi said, “I wasn’t nervous when I started today but starting getting nervous on 15 when I hear that Yani got birdie, birdie. So I was nervous, like from 15, 16, 17, 18 I was so nervous, but I had a great result. So it feels amazing.” It was her fifth career LPGA Tour victory and she now has 10 Top-10 finishes from 18 starts for the year.
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rnKarrie Webb was the best of the three Australians finishing in a tie for 42nd at 3-over par. Frances Bondad, playing on invite did herself proud with four solid rounds finishing in outright 45th, just a shot behind Webb. Katherine Hull finished in tie for 65th.