(13 June 2011 – Springfield, Illinois)
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Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng shot a 4-under par 68 to capture the LPGA State Farm Classic by three strokes over defending champion Cristie Kerr. It was Tseng&aposs second LPGA Tour victory this season and her fifth victory world-wide. The 22-year-old also won the LPGA&aposs season-opening Honda LPGA Thailand. A pair of Americans tied for third, last-start winner Brittany Lincicome and 2010 US open Champion, Paula Creamer.
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Tseng had a one-shot lead over Mindy Kim when she teed off for the final round and got off to a hot start, making a birdie on the first hole. She then made five consecutive pars while Kim recorded back-to-back birdies on No. 5 and 6 to pull even with Tseng at 18-under-par. But after Kim&aposs bogey on No. 7, Tseng continued to pull away from the field. Birdies on 8 and 13 moved Tseng to 20-under-par. She sealed her seventh-career LPGA Tour victory with a birdie on the 17th to finish at 21-under-par 267.
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It was a third straight runner-up finish for Cristie Kerr. Three weeks ago, Kerr lost to Suzann Pettersen in the final of the Sybase Match Play Championship and she fell one shot shy of victory at last week&aposs ShopRite LPGA Classic. Kerr now has six top-10 finishes in nine tournaments this season, five of which were top-5 finishes.
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Lincicome came up just short in her bid for two consecutive victories. One week after capturing her fourth career LPGA Tour victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Lincicome tied for third with Creamer at 16-under-par. Despite a slow start with a bogey at the second hole, Lincicome played the next 11 holes in 4-under to pull within two shots of the lead but she couldn&apost maintain her charge to shoot a final-round 70.
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It was a solid but by no means spectacular week for the Australians with Lindsey Wright and Sarah-Jane Smith the best placed at 6-under par in a tie for 40th. Karrie Webb (T52), Sarah Kemp (T60) and Katherine Hull (T68) also made the cut.
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