(10 May 2010 – Tsukubamirai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan)
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America&aposs Morgan Pressel completed her first victory on Japanese soil on Sunday at the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup in Tsukubamirai. After taking the lead midway through her second round, she was never headed, and finished on 9-under par; three shots clear of 2009 Money List winner Sakura Yokomine. World No.4 Yani Tseng finished a further two shots back on 4-under par. Australian’s Tamie Durdin and Nikki Campbell completed impressive tournaments finishing in outright 5th and tied 6th respectively.
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rnPressel started the final round at 7-under par, two shots clear of Japan’s Mayu Hattori, with Yokomine three back and then a trio of players including Tseng on 1-under par. As shown by the fact that only five players bettered par for the week, scoring was tough. Pressel began her day with a birdie at the first to race to a three shot lead. With Hattori making a bogey at the 2nd the lead was quickly out to four. After another birdie at the 5th hole and pars on the rest of the front nine, Pressel made the turn at 9-under par and five shots ahead of Yokomine who had two birdies and two bogeys to remain at 4-under.
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rnPressel won her first tournament as the youngest ever player to win a Major, when she triumphed in the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship. She added a second LPGA victory early in 2008; winning the Kapalua Classic in Hawaii, with her best finish in 2009 being a tie for 2nd. In the end her third victory, and first outside of America, came without too much of a challenge. She made a bogey at the 16th; however there was no one within striking distance. Yokomine made birdies at each of her final three holes to close the gap to two shots but was never a serious challenger for the title. Pressel then added a birdie at the last to close out an emphatic win.
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rnAfter her round, Pressel commented, “I’m very excited. It was a good week. I was very excited to come here and take a week off from the LPGA.”
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rnWith her runner-up finish, Yokomine crossed the ¥600 million mark in career earnings. At 24-years old she is the youngest player to do so in LPGA of Japan history.
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rnThe performances of the Australian duo were both impressive. Durdin started the tournament with rounds of 74 and 75 but closed with two rounds of 3-under par 69 to climb the leaderboard. She moved up 18 places on the Money List to 24th with season earnings of ¥9,387,000 (approx. AUD$115,365). Campbell again displayed her consistency on the difficult and long courses of Japan with rounds of 73, 73, 71 and 71. The course for this tournament was longer than the one Ryo Ishikawa shot 58 on the men’s tour the previous week. She moved up from 16th to 11th on the Money List with ¥14,765,475 in season earnings (approx AUD$181,465).
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Photo courtesy of LPGA of Japan.