Ai Miyazato Wins Second Evian Masters Title

Ai Miyazato, 2011 Evian Masters Champion

Two years ago Ai Miyazato wore the title no LPGA golfer wants, the best player without an LPGA win. She joined the American tour alread a superstar on her native JLPGA. She showed what potential she had by absolutely crushing the field at LPGA Q-school, setting a record for margin of victory (12 strokes) and joining the American-based tour as a rookie in 2006. Hordes of media followed her every move in the States. The LPGA celebrated a potential new champion. But though she soon proved to be a talent on her new tour, the wins did not come. Going into the 2009 Evian Masters, she had become just another good player. She would change that perception by tying for the lead at the end of 72 holes with Sophie Gustafson. Winning on the first playoff hole, Ai set in motion a chain of success culminating in 5 wins in 2010 that would elevate her to among the handful of elite players in the world.

Still, Ai did not finish 2010 the way she started, with mediocre play at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and missing the cut at the Tour Championship with the #1 world ranking as a possibility. She started 2011 once again very good but not great. Then tragedy struck her home country in March with the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The catastrophe hit Sendai hard, where Ai went to high school. Sports cannot erase what damage the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis at Fukushima have done to Japan, but for just a few moments people can cheer together and come together as one in triumph. Nadeshiko Japan lifted the spirit of an entire nation with their stirring victory at the 2011 Women’s World Cup. With another victory at the 2011 Evian Masters, Ai Miyazato has done the same.

Although Ai was solid with a final round 2-under 70 to finish 15-under overall, I was a bit surprised none of the top 5 finishers (T3 until the 6th place finisher) made a real run. There were 68s and 67s available on Sunday, but the pressure of a final round might have induced one or two poor strokes from Ai’s nearest competitors. In particular, Stacy Lewis, a growing superstar, had a few uncharacteristic putting yips that might have been the difference between second place and winning.

Stacy Lewis

That said, Stacy didn’t play poorly. She just came up short on a few strokes. Still, she made the final three for shot of the day.

In 2009, Ai was the best LPGA player without an LPGA win. But now she might hold another dubious title, the best LPGA player without an LPGA Major. I would not bet against her erasing that at the upcoming 2011 Women’s British Open.

AI MIYAZATO

STACY LEWIS

RAN HONG

ANGELA STANFORD

MIKI SAIKI

IN-KYUNG KIM

SUZANN PETTERSEN

PAULA CREAMER

POS	START	CNTRY	PLAYER	TO PAR	THRU	TODAY	R1	R2	R3	R4	TOTAL	MONEY
	1	1		MIYAZATO, Ai	-15	F	-2	68	68	67	70	273	$487,500
	2	T2		LEWIS, Stacy	-13	F	-2	69	67	69	70	275	$302,406
	T3	T6		KIM, I.K.	-12	F	-2	74	68	64	70	276	$175,223
	T3	T2		STANFORD, Angela	-12	F	-1	70	66	69	71	276	$175,223
	T3	T2		SAIKI, Miki	-12	F	-1	68	67	70	71	276	$175,223
	T6	T13		PETTERSEN, Suzann	-11	F	-4	73	67	69	68	277	$95,752
	T6	T13		PRESSEL, Morgan	-11	F	-4	71	69	69	68	277	$95,752
	T6	T2		HONG, Ran	-11	F	E	69	69	67	72	277	$95,752
	T9	T8		MIYAZATO, Mika	-10	F	-1	71	68	68	71	278	$67,606
	T9	T8		AHN, Shin-Ae	-10	F	-1	67	69	71	71	278	$67,606
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	T9	T6		HJORTH, Maria	-10	F	E	67	69	70	72	278	$67,606
	T12	T18		TSENG, Yani	-9	F	-3	69	73	68	69	279	$56,125
	T12	T11		HEDWALL, Caroline	-9	F	-1	73	66	69	71	279	$56,125
	T14	T30		YANG, Amy	-8	F	-5	73	67	73	67	280	$48,124
	T14	T21		LINCICOME, Brittany	-8	F	-3	68	71	72	69	280	$48,124
	T14	T13		CREAMER, Paula	-8	F	-1	70	67	72	71	280	$48,124
	T17	T36		NORDQVIST, Anna	-7	F	-5	77	68	69	67	281	$40,398
	T17	T21		PARK, Inbee	-7	F	-2	69	70	72	70	281	$40,398
	T17	T13		UEHARA, Ayako	-7	F	E	70	70	69	72	281	$40,398
	T17	T11		SHIN, Jiyai	-7	F	+1	69	69	70	73	281	$40,398
	T21	T30		MACKENZIE, Paige	-6	F	-3	71	72	70	69	282	$34,769
	T21	T21		CHOI, Na Yeon	-6	F	-1	72	68	71	71	282	$34,769
	T21	T18		FUDOH, Yuri	-6	F	E	71	69	70	72	282	$34,769
	T21	T8		KERR, Cristie	-6	F	+3	68	69	70	75	282	$34,769
	T25	T55		CHOI, Chella	-5	F	-6	73	71	73	66	283	$29,885
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	T25	T41		REID, Melissa	-5	F	-4	72	70	73	68	283	$29,885
	T25	T30		PRAMMANASUDH, Stacy	-5	F	-2	71	68	74	70	283	$29,885
	T25	T21		GUSTAFSON, Sophie	-5	F	E	71	70	70	72	283	$29,885
	T29	T41		MORITA, Rikako	-4	F	-3	71	70	74	69	284	$25,994
	T29	T18		STUPPLES, Karen	-4	F	+2	67	70	73	74	284	$25,994
	T29	T13		HURST, Pat	-4	F	+3	70	70	69	75	284	$25,994
	T32	T36		PAK, Se Ri	-3	F	-1	71	69	74	71	285	$22,558
	T32	T30		JI, Eun-Hee	-3	F	E	69	73	71	72	285	$22,558
	T32	T30		RYU, So-Yeon	-3	F	E	72	69	72	72	285	$22,558
	T32	T26		FENG, Shanshan	-3	F	+1	68	72	72	73	285	$22,558
	T36	T60		THOMPSON, Alexis	-2	F	-4	70	73	75	68	286	$18,023
	T36	T55		KUNG, Candie	-2	F	-3	74	69	74	69	286	$18,023
	T36	T41		HATTORI, Mayu	-2	F	-1	72	73	70	71	286	$18,023
	T36	T41		LIM, Ji-Na	-2	F	-1	73	70	72	71	286	$18,023
	T36	T26		LEE, Ji-Woo	-2	F	+2	70	73	69	74	286	$18,023
	T36	T26		MATTHEW, Catriona	-2	F	+2	71	68	73	74	286	$18,023
	T36	T21		IIJIMA, Akane	-2	F	+3	72	69	70	75	286	$18,023
	43	T41		GULBIS, Natalie	-1	F	E	70	73	72	72	287	$15,231
	T44	T48		LEE, Meena	E	F	E	71	73	72	72	288	$13,328
	T44	T48		WRIGHT, Lindsey	E	F	E	73	71	72	72	288	$13,328
	T44	T48		LACROSSE, Cindy	E	F	E	72	69	75	72	288	$13,328
	T44	T41		KIM, Christina	E	F	+1	75	69	71	73	288	$13,328
	T44	T36		YOO, Sun Young	E	F	+2	73	68	73	74	288	$13,328
	T44	T36		LAGOUTTE-CLEMENT, Virginie	E	F	+2	69	71	74	74	288	$13,328
	T50	T67		GAL, Sandra	+1	F	-3	70	74	76	69	289	$10,762
	T50	T64		GRANADA, Julieta	+1	F	-2	72	72	75	70	289	$10,762
	T50	T60		YOON, Seul-A	+1	F	-1	75	69	74	71	289	$10,762
	T50	T36		KIM, Hyun-Ji	+1	F	+3	72	70	72	75	289	$10,762
	T50	T30		KIM, Song-Hee	+1	F	+4	71	71	71	76	289	$10,762
	T50	T26		PARK, Hee Young	+1	F	+5	71	72	69	77	289	$10,762
	T56	T60		MUNOZ, Azahara	+2	F	E	72	70	76	72	290	$8,803
	T56	T48		JOHNSON, Trish	+2	F	+2	75	70	71	74	290	$8,803
	T56	T48		NOCERA, Gwladys	+2	F	+2	76	68	72	74	290	$8,803
	T56	T48		WARD, Wendy	+2	F	+2	74	70	72	74	290	$8,803
	T56	T48		BOWIE YOUNG, Heather	+2	F	+2	72	69	75	74	290	$8,803
	T56	T41		WEBB, Karrie	+2	F	+3	71	72	72	75	290	$8,803
	T62	70		RYU, Ritsuko	+3	F	-3	68	77	77	69	291	$7,699
	T62	T64		LANG, Brittany	+3	F	E	75	70	74	72	291	$7,699
	T62	T64		O’TOOLE, Ryann	+3	F	E	71	70	78	72	291	$7,699
	T62	T55		OYAMA, Shiho	+3	F	+2	71	70	76	74	291	$7,699
	66	T67		TINNING, Iben	+5	F	+1	72	73	75	73	293	$7,285
	T67	T55		CAUDAL, Anne-Lise	+8	F	+7	72	71	74	79	296	$7,036
	T67	T55		KANG, Jimin	+8	F	+7	72	69	76	79	296	$7,036
	69	69		KIM, Hye-Youn	+9	F	+4	72	73	76	76	297	$6,788
	70	T60		NOMURA, Haru	+10	F	+8	75	69	74	80	298	$6,623
Players below this line have missed the cut.
	CUT			AHN, Sun-Ju	+2			76	70			146
	CUT			KANEDA, Kumiko	+2			75	71			146
	CUT			MCPHERSON, Kristy	+2			76	70			146
	CUT			BOELJON, Christel	+3			73	74			147
	CUT			DAVIES, Laura	+3			76	71			147
	CUT			INKSTER, Juli	+3			75	72			147
	CUT			LEE, Seon Hwa	+3			71	76			147
	CUT			MOGI, Hiromi	+3			75	72			147
	CUT			SIMON, Ashleigh	+3			75	72			147
	CUT			SONG, Jennifer	+3			75	72			147
	CUT			URIBE, Mariajo	+3			72	75			147
	CUT			BABA, Yukari	+4			75	73			148
	CUT			BAE, Kyeong	+4			75	73			148
	CUT			KITADA, Rui	+4			75	73			148
	CUT			PACE, Lee-Anne	+4			76	72			148
	CUT			PARKER, Florentyna	+4			74	74			148
	CUT			RECARI, Beatriz	+4			75	73			148
	CUT			SEO, Hee Kyung	+4			73	75			148
	CUT			UEDA, Momoko	+4			74	74			148
	CUT			AFONSO, Caroline	+5			73	76			149
	CUT			BREWERTON, Becky	+5			74	75			149
	CUT			FUKUSHIMA, Akiko	+5			74	75			149
	CUT			FUTCHER, Katie	+5			73	76			149
	CUT			LEE, Jee Young	+5			72	77			149
	CUT			LEE, Seung-Hyun	+5			79	70			149
	CUT			PARK, Grace	+5			75	74			149
	CUT			WIE, Michelle	+5			76	73			149
	CUT			HUNG, Amy	+6			76	74			150
	CUT			HUR, M.J.	+6			77	73			150
	CUT			KIM, Mindy	+6			75	75			150
	CUT			BLUMENHERST, Amanda	+7			78	73			151
	CUT			HURST, Vicky	+7			78	73			151
	CUT			HAN, Hee-Won	+8			79	73			152
	CUT			KAMASOVA, Zuzana	+8			79	73			152
	CUT			NICOLLET, Sharmila	+9			81	72			153
	CUT			LUNA, Diana	+10			81	73			154
	CUT			ROMINGER, Caroline	+10			76	78			154
	CUT			VERCHENOVA, Maria	+11			81	74			155
	CUT			SMITH, Kristie	+13			80	77			157
	CUT			GIQUEL-BETTAN, Sophie	+16			84	76			160
	CUT			SHARP, Alena	+18			80	82			162

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