(12 September 2011 – Rogers, Arkansas)
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Rolex Rankings World No. 1 Yani Tseng successfully defended her title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G, beating Korean Amy Yang on the first hole of a playoff. After missing a 4-foot putt on the final hole of regulation that would have given her the title, Tseng sank a four-foot birdie putt when they replayed the par-5 18th in the playoff to capture her fifth LPGA title of the 2011 season. Japan’s Ai Miyazato finished in outright third after a final round of 6-under par 66, however a bogey on the 17th hole cost her dearly.
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rnTseng began Sunday atop the leaderboard with Yang and both shot matching final rounds of 3-under par 68 at the par-71 Pinnacle Country Club. In the playoff on the par-5 18th, Yang reached the green in two while Tseng’s second shot skirted just over the green on the fringe. Both putted their third shots with Yang missing her birdie from 6-feet, while Tseng converted from 4-feet to defend the title she won with a come-from-behind victory over Michelle Wie in 2010. Tseng, who now has 10 career LPGA Tour victories, recorded five birdies and two bogeys in the final round.
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rnFor most of the day it appeared that Yang may capture her first LPGA title, at times leading by two shots on the back-nine. In the end, it was her inability to make a birdie down the stretch that cost her the championship. She finished the tournament with eleven straight pars in regulation and failed to birdie the reachable par-5 18th twice.
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On the other hand, Tseng made clutch birdies on the 14th and 16th holes to get herself back in the tournament after a bogey at the 13th. She alluded to this in her press conference, saying, “I&aposm very, very excited. I almost cry because today like in the middle of the round I feel like oh, I&aposm going to lose today because in my mind I don&apost feel excitement, I don&apost make any birdie. But I just telling myself I need to get excited, need more focus, try to stretch, move around, just feel more. Like the last three holes I make some birdies so that was very important for me.”
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rnWith five victories this year, Tseng know joins an elite group of woman who have accomplished that feat in a season including Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez and Pat Bradley, Annika Sorenstam (1997, 2000-2005) and Karrie Webb (1999, 2000 and 2006). Her other victories this season are Honda LPGA Thailand, LPGA State Farm Classic, Wegmans LPGA Championship and RICOH Women’s British Open.
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rn“This is great,” said Tseng following her victory. “I mean, you always have a good crowd here and the people are really nice, volunteers and so many great people around here. Very nice to be out here. This year, the weather was perfect, so we were very lucky. So I&aposm just really happy, just really happy to be back here.”
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rnTseng has now won five of the 10 times she has led or co-led entering the final round on the LPGA Tour. She went 0 for 4 to start her career in 2008 and 2009, but since then she’s 5 for 6, her only loss coming at this year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship, when Stacy Lewis ran her down. The statistics just keep piling up for Tseng, who crossed the $2million mark in season earnings for the first time and has nearly $7million in career earnings (in just four seasons).
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rnIt was not a great week for the Australians with Sarah-Jane Smith the best in a tie for 48th. Lindsey Wright (T55) and Karrie Webb (T76) also made the cut.