(28 September 2009 – Rifu, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan)
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Chie Arimura, not to be outdone by the recent exploits of Sakura Yokomine and Shinobu Moromizato captured her fourth title of the season at the Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open. After a close fought battle with Momoko Ueda, Arimura closed out a two shot victory with a final round 1-under par 71 to finish at 10-under par total 206. Yokomine finished a further three strokes back in outright third to continue her stellar season.
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rnArimura fired a second round 7-under par 65 to set up a one shot lead over Ueda heading into the final round. Yokomine and Yuki Ichinose were both five shots adrift of Arimura at 4-under par in a tie for third. The final round started calmly for Arimura, who reeled off seven straight pars, while Ueda matched two birdies and two bogeys to remain one behind after seven holes. Yokomine or Ichinose couldn’t make up any ground either and both faded from contention leaving it up to Arimura and Ueda to compete for the ¥10,800,000 winner’s cheque.
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rnArimura, even for the day, had opened up a three shot buffer through twelve holes after a Ueda bogey at the long par-4 12th hole. The players traded birdies shortly thereafter, Ueda on the 14th and Arimura on the 15th leaving Arimura with a three shot lead with three to play. She safely played par golf over the next two holes, while Ueda notched a birdie at the 17th to add a little pressure to the final hole. However, Arimura stayed solid with a comfortable par, posting her fifth career victory and becoming the third player this season to top the magical ¥100,000,000 mark. Only Moromizato, with six victories and Yokomine, with four are ahead of her on the money list.
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rnTamie Durdin carded rounds of 72, 76 and 72 to finish in a tie for 20th. It was a good effort from Durdin who had flown back to Japan after last week qualifying for Final Qualifying School for the 2010 LPGA Tour.
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Photo by Anthony Powter – Tamie Durdin
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