(12 October 2009 – Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, Japan)
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Japan&aposs Ai Miyazato completed her first victory on her home country&aposs tour in three years after a one-shot triumph at the Sankyo Ladies Open on Sunday. A final round of 4-under par 68 saw her overcome a five-shot deficit heading into the final day. Overnight leader Mi-Jeong Jeon from Korea faltered with a final round 2-over par 74 to finish in a tie for second with Japan&aposs Mayu Hattori.
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rnAfter two rounds, Jeon had reached 5-under par, holding a one-shot lead over Japan’s Akane Iijima with Hattori a further two shots back on 2-under par. In a tie for 4th was a host of the world’s top players including Miyazato (Rolex World Ranking No.10), Sakura Yokomine (No.18), Chie Arimura (No.34) and Ji-Hee Lee (No.35), making for a nervous day for the leaders with so many good players chasing.
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rnAfter nine holes it seemed as if Jeon (Rolex No.30) was handling the pressure well. She had played the front side in 1-under par to move to 6-under and a comfortable 4-shot lead over Miyazato, who had picked up 2 shots to move to 2-under. However, Miyazato found her groove with three birdies in the first four holes around the back, but again, Jeon seemed to have her covered with two birdies of her own in the same period. All the other challengers had seemingly wasted their chances with only Hattori not going backwards, remaining under par throughout her round.
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rnWith four holes to play, Jeon held a 3-shot lead and looked like she was on her way to her fourth title of the season. The drama was yet to unfold however, as Jeon stumbled over the closing stages. She made bogey at 15 which was offset by a Miyazato bogey at the 16th, meaning she still held a three shot lead with two to play. While Miyazato played the final two holes with two pars, Jeon, playing 20 minutes behind, made double-bogey at both the 17th and 18th holes to lose by one-shot.
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rnIn a breakthrough year for Miyazato, she broke her LPGA hoodoo with first win at the Evian Masters. She has a further 11 Top-10’s including runner-up finishes at the CN Canadian Women’s Open and Samsung World Championship and a tie for third at the Ricoh Women’s British Open. It was her first win in Japan since the 2006 Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open and her 15th overall.
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rnNikki Campbell continued her recent run of good form, finishing in a tie for 9th. It was her third Top-10 in her last four starts and moved her up to 20th on the money list with season earnings of ¥29,841,694 (approx. AUD$368,000.00).
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Phot by Paul Melville – Ai Miyazato
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