Date: June 25, 2007
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Mills finishes strongly

A final-round 67 saw Australian Joanne Mills jump almost 20 places up the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 11th at the French Open on the Ladies European Tour. Mills had faded to equal-30th after her third-round two-over 74, but five birdies and no bogeys on Sunday lifted her to two-under and a share of 11th. The 37-year-old finished nine strokes behind Swede Linda Wessberg, who picked up her second Ladies European Tour title thanks to a terrific final-round 65. Wessberg was superb on Sunday, coming from four shots back after three rounds to win by a stroke from Englishwoman Trish Johnson. In heavy rain, Wessberg tore apart the front nine of the Le Golf D&aposArras course, sinking six birdies from the first eight holes, including three in a row from the sixth. Of the other Australians, Sarah Kemp par and finished equal-17th, Nickki Garrett was three-over, while Rebecca Stevenson and Cherie Byrnes were a further stroke back. On the LPGA Tour, Mexican Lorena Ochoa came from three strokes back with two holes remaining to claim the Wegmans Rochester International in a sudden-death playoff. Ochoa, who was the overnight leader, claimed her third tournament victory of the year on the second playoff hole, where she made a two-foot par putt and South Korean rookie In-Kyung Kim missed her 15-foot attempt and made bogey. It is the fist time the 25-year-old world No.1 has come out on top after a playoff, having failed at her previous four attempts on the LPGA Tour. Kim was three shots ahead but found herself tied with Ochoa after the Mexican eagled the par-five 17th and Kim failed to get up and down for par from behind the green on the 18th. Another South Korean, Mi Hyun Kim was third at seven-under after shooting 69 on the last day at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York State. The best Australian was Lindsey Wright, whose final-round 71 helped her into a share of fifth with South Korean Jeong Jang at five-under. Of the other Australians, Rachel Hetherington carded a fourth-round 71 to end the week in a six-way tie for eighth, while Katherine Hull (+2) and Karrie Webb (+4) made the cut but finished well back. Final results Ladies European Tour French Open -11: Linda Wessberg 70 68 74 65 -10: Trish Johnson 68 70 72 68 -9: Stefania Croce 72 72 67 68, Gwladys Nocera 70 68 71 70 -8: Lotta Wahlin 68 72 72 68 -7: Rebecca Hudson 67 69 72 73 -5: Paula Marti 72 71 73 67 -4: Asa Gottmo 72 67 76 69 -3: Sophie Giquel 71 74 72 68, Lynn Kenny 69 74 73 69 -2: Joanne Mills (Australia) 70 75 74 67, Diana Luna 71 74 71 70 Also Par: Sarah Kemp (Australia) 69 72 73 74 +3: Nikki Garrett (Australia) 72 72 71 76 +4: Rebecca Stevenson (Australia) 71 75 77 69, Cherie Byrnes (Australia) 73 74 73 72 +5: Kristie Newton (Australia) 72 71 73 77 +8: Shani Waugh (Australia) 74 73 76 73 +10 Leah Hart (Australia) 69 75 78 76 Final results LPGA Wegmans Rochester International -8: Lorena Ochoa 69 71 67 73 -8: In-Kyung Kim 70 67 71 72 -7: Mi Hyun Kim 69 68 75 69 -6: Cristie Kerr 66 75 70 71 -5: Jeong Jang 71 73 71 68, Lindsey Wright (Australia) 70 70 72 71 -4: Angela Stanford 70 69 73 72 -3: Brittany Lincicome 69 75 73 68, Jee Young Lee 71 77 69 68, Morgan Pressel 70 72 73 70, Maria Hjorth 70 71 73 71, Rachel Hetherington (Australia) 70 71 73 71, Wendy Ward 74 70 69 72 Also +2: Katherine Hull (Australia) 71 73 75 71 +4: Karrie Webb (Australia) 72 73 76 71