KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) — Japan’s Ai Miyazato won the LPGA LOTTE Championship on Saturday for her eighth career LPGA Tour title, birdieing three of the last six holes for a 2-under 70 and a four-stroke victory.
Miyazato finished at 12-under 276 at wind-swept Ko Olina. She opened with rounds of 71, 65 and 70 to take a three-stroke lead in the final round.
Meena Lee, ahead early on the back nine and tied for the lead after a birdie on No. 15, had a 70 to tie for second with Azahara Munoz at 8 under. Munoz finished with a 71.
The whirlwind finish still had Miyazato a little flustered.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Miyazato, a 15-time winner on the Japan LPGA. “I just focused on my game. I was pretty nervous toward the end because I know everyone is playing so well. I had to finish really strong.”
The 26-year-old Miyazato made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 15th to break a tie with Lee. Lee, down one playing 18, then hit her approach into a bunker and three-putted from 30 feet for double bogey, ending her chances. Lee said she knew she needed to get it close on 18 to put pressure on Miyazato.
“But I was a little bit downwind,” Lee said about the shot that flew over the green and into the bunker. “I tried to go for the pin and then I end up three-putting. I tried.”
Miyazato lost the lead with a bogey on the par-3 12th after her tee shot buried in a bunker, the second straight day she carded a 4 on the hole. But Lee dropped back moments later with a three-putt bogey at 14.
After Miyazato’s birdie at 15, she saved par from 10 feet at 16, then rolled in another birdie putt from 25 feet at 17 to wrap up her first victory since the Evian Masters last year in France.
“I just keep saying to myself just to be patient and no rush,” Miyazato said. “I’ve been playing so well this year.”
Miyazato won after finishing second behind top-ranked Yani Tseng this year in Thailand and Phoenix. It was Miyazato’s fifth top-10 finish in six events, and her first victory in Hawaii in nine tries. It was also good to beat Tseng.
“It was very nice,” Miyazato said, then laughed. “Honestly, she is so good. But, no, Yani has been playing really solid. It’s so inspiring that she’s playing so well. That’s why I’m here. We’re kind of inspiring each other.”
After her father gave her a putting tip following a poor finish at the Kraft Nabisco three weeks ago, the 5-foot-1 star needed only 53 putts in the last two rounds.
“I was disappointed about the Nabisco,” Miyazato said. “But after Nabisco I worked hard and kind of said to myself just to keep going.”
Tseng, a three-time winner this year, overcame an ankle injury early in the final round to shoot a 74 and tie for 10th at 4 under. She has finished in the top 10 in all seven of her LPGA Tour starts this year.
“I didn’t play well today,” Tseng said. “I didn’t give myself lots of chances to make birdie. I don’t know what happened. My distance was way off. Just not my day out there.”
Champions
Purtzer-Bryant, Frost-Allen share Legends lead
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — David Frost and Michael Allen birdied nine of the first 13 holes and combined for a 9-under 63 on Saturday for a share of the second-round lead with Tom Purtzer and Brad Bryant in the Legends of Golf. The teams were at 19-under 125 in the better event. Bryant and Allen had 65 at The Club at Savannah Harbor.
The leaders in the 54-hole Champions Tour event were one shot ahead of four teams: Gil Morgan and Tom Kite (61); Bobby Clampett and Andy North (62); Jay Haas and Fred Couples (63); and Jeff Sluman and Brad Faxon (64). Six other teams were at 17 under heading into the final round.
“We had a good time out there,” Allen said about their bogey-free round. “We were fighting. It was fun.”
Allen, coming off a victory last week at TPC Tampa Bay, currently tops the senior circuit’s money list and leads Bernhard Langer by 157 points in the Schwab Cup race.
Frost had the hot hand early, rolling in four birdie putts on the first seven holes. When he cooled off, Allen took over, making birdies on five of the next six holes.
“Yeah, it’s just nice generally to just have a good mate to play out there with,” Frost said. “You know he’s going to come into play when you’re out … and hopefully we don’t play the same holes badly. That’s the only question mark out there.”
Unless you count the weather. Saturday was sunny, warm with a mild breeze coming up the Savannah River. Almost perfect for golf. Rain was forecast for Sunday, however.
“I bet it will take 30 under to win if the weather is like it was today,” Purtzer said.
And if it’s not?
“I think we’re OK because we both hit the ball high, so we’re not looking for it to roll a lot,” Purtzer said.
Mark James rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt from off the 18th green as he and Des Smyth repeated as champions of the unofficial 54-hole Raphael Division title at 19-under, one stroke better than two teams: Dennis Watson and Steve Jones, and Mark McCumber and Wayne Grady. Jones, playing in the group ahead of the winners, holed his approach on the finishing hole for eagle.
Earlier in the week, Gibby Gilbert and J.C. Snead repeated as champions of the 54-hole Demaret Division for players 70 or older.
The Legends was first played in 1978 in Austin, Texas, and is considered the event that launched the 50-and-over tour. It was all team play until 2002, but always unofficial money. The tournament was played in four cities and on eight courses before coming to Savannah in 2003 as an individual event. It went back to team play and official money in 2008.
Iternational
Grace leads by three shots at China Open
TIANJIN, China (AP) — Branden Grace of South Africa shot an 8-under 64 and has a three-shot lead after three rounds of the China Open on Saturday.
The 23-year-old South African moved to 18-under 198, three shots ahead of defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium. Grace started the third round one shot off the lead, but gained four shots in three holes, sinking a 15-foot eagle putt on the sixth green.
On a day of light winds and low scoring, Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay also shot a 64 to move to 14 under, four strokes back. Alexander Noren of Sweden had a 63 to join four other players at 13 under.
Grace is looking for his third victory on the European Tour in 2012 having already won the Joburg Open and Volvo Golf Champions tournaments in South Africa in January.
Grace’s confidence is high after having beaten major winners Retief Goosen and Ernie Els to win The Champions on a very similar course at Fancourt in South Africa.
“I can draw from experience,” said Grace who had seven birdies in his round and only dropped one shot when he three-putted on the 14th green.
“I am feeling really positive after getting my first two wins early in the year and just wanting to keep on pushing on from there. The difference all this year has been that I have been holing more putts.
“But this course here in China is very similar to Fancourt. It is long has the same links feeling about it and I am getting the same feelings.”
Colsaerts, trying to defend the title he won last year and playing alongside Grace, started slowly but four birdies on the back nine allowed him to shoot a 6-under 66.
Noren’s 9-under 63 was the lowest round of the day. He was joined at 13 under by France’s Jean Baptiste, who had held a share of the halfway lead, but dropped back with a 2-under 70.
The other overnight leader, Gary Boyd of England, started his third round by dropping two shots in three holes. He had a 71 and was six shots behind Grace.
Westwood holds leads in rainy Indonesian Masters
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Defending champion Lee Westwood birdied two of the first four holes and moved to 13 under at the Indonesian Masters on Saturday before lightning and rain halted the third round. Zaw Moe of Myanmar was second at 9 under through four holes when play was suspended at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
“The suspension stopped a bit of momentum. But if it is dangerous weather out there then it is the safest thing to do,” Westwood said. “It is disappointing for everybody — the players, sponsors and the spectators. But this is the nature of the weather in this part of the world.”
Lee Sung of Korea, Shiv Kapur of India and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria were tied at 7 under. No players completed the third round. The 70 golfers will resume play early Sunday.