Ai Miyazatao in action (image by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography).

Miyazato pips Pettersen for Thailand prize

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
PATTAYA, Thailand -- Japanese star Ai Miyazato rallied to win the LPGA Tour's season-opening Honda PTT LPGA Thailand on Sunday, holing a 30-foot birdie chip on the final hole for a fabulous nine-under-par closing round of 63 and a one-stroke victory over Norway's Suzann Pettersen.
Miyazato, six strokes behind Pettersen after the third round, was six under in a six-hole stretch midway through the round, then birdied three of the last six holes to match the tournament record of 21 under par 267, set by Pettersen in October 2007.
"I didn't think of winning. I was just focused on my game and tried to do my best in the final round," Miyazato said. "It was my lucky day as no matter what I did was right. This victory is a good start of the season for me."
Pettersen finished with a 70 for 268 over Siam Country Club's Old Course. She had a chance to force a playoff on the par-5 18th, but missed a 23-foot eagle try.
"There's nothing I can do when Ai shoots 9 under," Pettersen said.
"I played pretty good golf and I don't waste much energy thinking of why I didn't win it. For me, it was a great start. ... Obviously, it's not a win. I had two bogeys this entire week, they both came today, but it's hard to play four rounds of no-bogey golf. What I've been doing this winter has been a good thing."
The 24-year-old Miyazato earned $195,000 for her second LPGA Tour title.
"I was trying to focus on every single shot and not trying to win or get a low score," Miyazato said. "Just every single shot, try to hit the fairway, hit the green and make some putts. It was really simple, but under the pressure it was really difficult to do. I did it well."
Miyazato, 10 under on her final 16 holes, also won the Evian Masters last year in France and has 15 victories on the Japanese tour.
"The Evian Masters gave me good experience," she said. "There were a lot of pressure packed situations today, but I controlled myself really well. This time, I felt like I was able to get the win with my style of golf."
Taiwan's Yani Tseng (69) was third, six strokes back at 15 under. Karrie Webb (67) and Cristie Kerr (70) followed at 13 under, and Laura Davies 65), Maria Hjorth (71), Momoko Ueda (72) and Song-Hee Kim (73) were 12 under.

Ricoh British Women's Open champion Catriona Matthew from North Berwick finished joint 16th on seven-under-par 281.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, the winner last year, had a 72 to tie for 18th at 6 under, while Michelle Wie closed with a 69 to tie for 22nd at 5 under.
"Wish I could have made a few more putts. Hopefully I'll play better next week," said Wie, headed to Singapore for the HSBC Women's Champions.
Miyazato began her big mid-round run with a birdie on the par-4 sixth, then eagled the par-5 seventh and added birdies on Nos. 9-11 to cut Pettersen's lead to a stroke.
Pettersen dropped a stroke on the par-4 ninth with her first bogey of the tournament, but birdied the par-5 10th for the fourth straight day to push her advantage back to two strokes. Miyazato quickly countered, birdieing the 13th to again pull within one, and making another birdie on 15 to tie Pettersen at 20 under.
Pettersen fell back with a bogey on 16, missed a 6-foot birdie putt on 17, then settled for a birdie on 18 after missing her eagle try. In her 2007 victory, Pettersen beat Davies with an eagle on 18 after blowing a seven-stroke lead in the final round.
"Had my chances," Pettersen said. "I should have made the putt on 17. I played it exactly where I wanted it, but it broke a little bit more. I can't really control other players. I still shot 20 under par. I came close."
FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4x72)

267 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 67 67 70 63
268 Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 66 64 68 70
273 Yani Tseng (Tai) 68 68 68 69
275 Karrie Webb (Aus) 69 69 70 67, Cristie Kerr 68 71 66 70
276 Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 70 65 69 72, Song-Hee Kim (Kor) 67 68 68 73, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 69 66 70 71, Laura Davies (Eng) 70 71 70 65
277 Amy Yang 70 72 65 70
278 In Kyung Kim (Kor) 70 71 67 70, Hee Young Park (Kor) 67 66 72 73
280 Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 71 71 69 69, M.J. Hur (Kor) 66 74 68 72, Hwa seon Lee (Kor) 70 70 70 70
281 Catriona Matthew (Sco) 70 68 70 73, Angela Stanford 68 72 71 70
282 Stacy Prammanasudh 72 68 70 72, Nontaya Srisawang (Tha) 69 69 73 71, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 69 72 69 72, Amanda Blumenherst 71 74 68 69
283 Jiyai Shin (Kor) 71 74 69 69, Michelle Wie 72 68 74 69, Stacy Lewis 68 75 73 67, Kyeong Bae (Kor) 69 70 71 73
284 Sun Young Yoo (Kor) 70 73 71 70, Morgan Pressel 73 68 72 71, Brittany Lincicome 68 74 71 71
285 Pat Hurst 70 73 71 71
286 Aryia Jutanugarn (Tha) 72 74 72 68
287 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 71 71 74 71
288 Se Ri Pak (Kor) 70 71 73 74, Eunjung Yi (Kor) 74 71 73 70, Brittany Lang 73 71 69 75, Katherine Hull (Aus) 70 71 73 74
289 Jee Young Lee (Kor) 78 70 68 73, Shinobu Moromizato (Jpn) 72 74 72 71
290 Mika Miyazato (Jpn) 74 74 71 71, Hee-Won Han (Kor) 72 73 75 70
291 Natalie Gulbis 74 72 70 75, Christina Kim 76 72 66 77, Candie Kung (Tai) 72 77 74 68
292 Meena Lee (Kor) 71 75 71 75, Kristy McPherson 75 72 72 73
293 Virada Nirapathpongporn (Tha) 75 73 74 71, Ji-Young Oh (Kor) 75 74 74 70
294 Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 73 74 74 73, Inbee Park (Kor) 71 77 73 73
295 Juli Inkster 72 77 71 75, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 74 74 72 75
296 Lindsey Wright (Aus) 72 77 74 73, Russamee Gulyanamitta (Tha) 74 75 72 75
297 Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 74 78 72 73
298 Vicky Hurst 78 75 73 72, Meaghan Francella 74 76 70 78, Thipada Suwannapura (Tha) 77 72 74 75, Sandra Gal (Ger) 74 75 73 76
300 Wendy Ward 76 76 74 74
308 Maria Verchenova (Rus) 73 75 79 81