(19 July 2010 – Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan)
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Korea&aposs Sun-Ju Ahn became the third dual winner of the season with victory at the Stanley Ladies Golf Tournament on Sunday. She completed rounds of 70, 71 and 69 to finish at 6-under par and survived a playoff to take the title from compatriot Ji-Hee Lee. The Japanese pair of Yukari Baba and Rui Kitada joined Korea’s Eun-A Lim tied for third at 5-under.
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rnHeading into the final round, there was congestion at the top of the leaderboard. Lim, at 7-under par, held a one shot lead over Japan’s Akiko Fukushima with Korea’s Ah-Rheum Hwang a shot further back. Kitada sat fourth at 4-under with Ahn and Baba in a group of five players on 3-under while Lim was five shots off the pace at 2-under par.
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rnAhn was the biggest mover during the opening nine holes, notching four birdies to move to 7-under par, now just one shot behind Lim who made 8 pars and a birdie to get it to 8-under. Lee also moved into contention with three birdies to move to 5-under. It was around the turn that saw Fukushima and Hwang fall from contention; Fukushima making an astonishing 7 bogeys in nine holes from the 6th to stumble to a 79 and tie for 20th while Hwang bogied 10, 12 and 14 to also fall out of the running.
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rnLim, leading by one, also joined the ‘bogey train’, staggering with bogeys at the 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th holes. Ahn also stumbled with bogeys at 10 and 12 but was the only one of the three to bounce back from the disappointment with birdies at the 13th and 14th holes. Up ahead, Lee had continued her ‘bogey-free’ round, adding a fourth birdie on the 15th to move to 6-under, just one behind Ahn. Kitada too had moved to 6-under with a birdie at the same hole.
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rnSo, with Lee in the clubhouse at 6-under par, it was up to Ahn to ‘finish it off’ or for Kitada to find a birdie to join her at 7-under. Unfortunately for both players, they both made bogey at the final hole. This left Ahn in a playoff with Lee while Kitada had to settle for third.
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rnAfter both players made pars at the first extra hole, Ahn settled it with a birdie putt from 20-feet from the fringe to clinch victory. The win was her second of the season after she won the season opening Daikin Orchid Ladies. It is Ahn’s first season in Japan and she now heads the Money List with ¥55,733,500 (approx. AUD$740,277) in year to date prizemoney. It was the 100th victory of players from Korea on the LPGA of Japan, a fact not missed by Ahn, “It was a tight contest, so I got more nervous than in the season opener. In my country, there has been talk of our 100th victory in Japan, so this win is special for me.”
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rnUnfortunately, both Nikki Campbell and Susie Mathews both missed the cut.
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Photos courtesy of LPGA of Japan.