(29 August 2011 – Tomakomai, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan).bmp)
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Joint overnight leader; Korean Ritsuko Ryu held her nerve in a tightly contested final round to win the first title of her career at the Nitori Ladies on Sunday. Rounds of 72,68 and 69 saw her capture the title by one shot from Japanese veteran Junko Omote, with three players finishing in a tie for third; Chie Arimura; Mi-Jeong Jeon and Na-Ri Kim.
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Teeing off in a six-way tie for the lead, the 23-year-old Ryu got off to the best start with birdies at the 1st and 3rd holes, however a birdie by Omote at the 7th saw her take the lead after Ryu made a bogey at the 6th. The scores stayed the same until another mistake from Ryu at the 12th hole saw her slip two behind Omote and it looked like a good chance for the 37-year-old to add to the two titles she won way back in 2005.
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There were still a few twists and turns to be played out yet and there were still a host of players within two or three shots of the lead and still in with a chance. It wasn’t just Omote and Ryu, with Kim getting within two shots after a birdie at the 11th hole. She would go on to bogey the 14th to slip from contention.
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After the challengers had come and gone, Omote had the lead by two shots with a birdie at the 14th hole. However, this was quickly reduced to one shot when Ryu made a stunning birdie at the difficult 15th hole which had seen just as many bogeys as pars from the previous ten groups. This seemed to rattle Omote who took a bogey at the 17th to fall back into a tie for the lead with Ryu.
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Ryu, whose previous best finishes were an outright 3rd place in 2008 followed by ties for third last year and earlier this year, threw the form book out the window and made another brilliant birdie on the last hole to capture her first title, with her rookie year in 2007. She moved to 7th on the Money List with ¥30,339,000 (approx. AUD$373,935.00) in season earnings.
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Tamie Durdin was the only Australian in the field and disappointingly for her, a second round of 77 curtailed any designs she had on the title. Apart from that and she would have been right in the mix with an opening round of 70 and final round of 69. In the end she finished in a tie for 18th at even par. She moved up a couple of spots on the Money List to sit in 56th with ¥6,230,857 (approx. AUD$76,796.70) in season earnings.
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