(28 May 2012 – Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Japan)
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China&aposs Shanshan Feng became the fourth straight foreign winner on the LPGA of Japan Tour after a second hole playoff win over Yukari Baba at the Yonex Ladies on Sunday. Bo-Mee Lee and Ritsuko Ryu finished one shot short of the playoff in a tie for third.
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Feng had to overcome a three-stroke deficit to catch Baba who had started the day with a one shot buffer. She had made up two of those shots before the turn, going out in 1-under to Baba’s opening nine holes of 1-over par. Both players steadied before each birdied the 13th hole, Baba back to 8-under and Feng on 7-under. That was the last birdie for Baba while Feng had another up her sleeve at the long par-4 17th hole to tie it up on top of the leaderboard.
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Both players would make par at the 18th before heading back there twice. The second time around Feng made birdie to notch her first title of the season. The ¥10.8 million for first place moved her to seventh in the money rankings. It was the 22-year-old Feng&aposs third tournament title in Japan.
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Nikki Campbell was the only Australian in the field and had a consistent three days with rounds of 70, 70 and 71 seeing her finish just three shots shy of the leaders in outright 7th position. It was her second Top-10 for the season and moved her up to 42nd on the Money List with ¥6,046,500 in prizemoney (approx. AUD$77,660).