(31 October 2011 – Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan)
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23-year-old LPGA of Japan star Chie Arimura came from behind to capture her third title of the season on Sunday, toppling Yukari Baba at the second hole of a playoff at the Hisako Higuchi Ladies. Both players finished on 7-under par, three shots ahead of the trio who tied for third; Japan’s Kaori Ohe, Rikako Morita and China&aposs Shanshan Feng.
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Arimura started her final round at 3-under par, three shots behind Japan’s Natsu Nagai while Baba was two shots better off at 5-under par.
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rnWhile the leaders stumbled early on, both Arimura and Baba were playing bogey-free golf to climb the leaderboard and hit the front midway through their final rounds. Arimura carded a bogey-free round of 4-under par 68, with birdies on 2, 6, 9 and 12 to take the clubhouse lead at 7-under par 209 after regulation play.
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rnBaba, who won the Japan Women’s Open a few weeks ago, had moved to 8-under par through the 12th hole but a costly bogey on the 15th saw her finish in a tie with Arimura.
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rnBoth players parred the first extra hole before Arimura clinched victory with a birdie from 6-feet on the second playoff hole for her 10th career victory in Japan. The win moved her up to second on the money list, ¥32.7million behind Korea’s Sun-Ju Ahn, who looks headed towards consecutive Money Queen titles with four events remaining.
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rnBoth Australians in the field made the cut but will be ruing a missed opportunity for a good finish with disappointing final rounds. Nikki Campbell tied for 34th at 3-over par after a final round of 4-over par 76 while Tamie Durdin posted an 8-over 80 on Sunday to finish in 53rd place at 10-over par.