(19 April 2010 – Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan)
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South Korea&aposs Inbee Park arrested a run of three runner-up finishes to finally claim her first title in Japan at the Nishijin Ladies Classic on Sunday. In the end, it took a playoff to separate Park and Japan’s Chieko Amanuma who both finished on a 7-under par, total 209, one shot ahead of Korea’s Jiyai Shin.
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rnPark, the 2008 US Women’s Open champion, started the final round at 4-under par; four shots behind Japan’s Momoko Ueda. There was a host of highly ranked players also in the mix, including LPGA of Japan legend Yuri Fudoh and World No.2 Shin. With the quality of players at the top of the leaderboard, it looked like birdies would be needed to gain the advantage. However, it didn’t pan out that way, where no players played the front nine under par.
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rnAt the half-way mark in the final round, Ueda, at 7-under, held a one stroke buffer over Shin with Fudoh at 5-under. Both Park and Amanuma were still three shots off the pace, Park having matched her three birdies on the front nine with three bogeys, to go out in even par and remain at 4-under.
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rnPark made her move with a birdie at the 10th hole while the leaders all stumbled early on the back nine; Ueda bogeyed the 10th, Shin the 11th and Fudoh the 12th. Fudoh would fall away with two more bogeys on the 15th and 16th to finish in a tie for 6th, while Shin picked up a shot at the 15th to go back to 6-under, in a tie for the lead with Ueda.
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rnThe tournament came down to the last four holes, where Amanuma posted three straight birdies from the 15th to move to 7-under par and into the lead. Park also made a birdie at the 16th and then matched Amanuma with a clutch birdie at the last hole to also reach the 7-under mark. Behind them, Ueda faltered with bogeys at both the 17th and 18th to fall back to a tie for 4th, while Shin couldn’t make the necessary birdie to get into the playoff.
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rnBoth Park and Amanuma went back to the 18th for the playoff, where Park prevailed the first time around with a birdie. It was the 21-year-old&aposs first win since her US Open triumph and came after finishing runner-up three times in row in her only starts on the Japanese tour. She had lost to Chie Arimura the week before at the Studio Alice Ladies. She was also 2nd at the KIA Classic on the LPGA Tour in March. Afterwards she said, “I wasn’t thinking about winning, but the birdies came on the back nine and I thought I had a chance. I am happy to win in Japan. I will keep aiming for titles.”
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rnWith such a strong field, Park will certainly move up from her current 19th position on the Rolex World Rankings. Similarly, Shin will edge closer to the World No.1 spot when the rankings are released tomorrow and Amanuma will certainly rise a number of spots from her current position at No.206.
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rnTamie Durdin put in another solid performance to finish in a tie for 14th after rounds of 74, 70 and 72 left her on even par. This result saw her move up to 53rd on the money list, where she is juggling her dual-Tour status between Japan and the LPGA. Nikki Campbell slipped down to 36th on the list after taking the week off. Unfortunately, Susie Mathews missed the cut after rounds of 75 and 76.
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Photo courtesy of LPGA of Japan.