Mexico's Lorena Ochoa didn't have to settle for second place on Saturday, posting a solid six-under 66 to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the LPGA Takefuji Classic.
Ochoa started the day with a two-shot lead and never wavered on her way to a three-shot triumph in the 1.1 million-dollar event.
The 24-year-old had enjoyed a solid start to the season, including two runner-up finishes and a fourth place in five events.
She claimed her first victory of 2006 and the fourth of her career with a 19-under 54-hole total of 19-under 197.
"I've been so close. I think those playoffs really taught me, you know, when you are under pressure, how to just focus, and how to just really be aggressive whenever you need to be aggressive," Ochoa said. "You know, at the end, they help you for the experience and get better for your golf, and I think that's what they did."
Rookie Seon Hwa Lee of South Korea also closed with a 66, her 16-under total giving her third runner-up finish of the season.
"I played great. I really enjoyed it today," Lee said. "But this is three times second place so far. I keep trying to win."
If Ochoa was nervous about finally breaking through with a win, she didn't show it. She started her bogey-free round with a birdie and ended it the same way. In between she added back-to-back birdies at five and six and again at nine and 10.
"Birdie on No 1 and a birdie on No 5. I think those were really important, just for the players to see them posting on the leaderboard, and to make sure I'm not having a bad day, or I didn't start as good as I did the first couple of rounds," Ochoa said.
"So making those birdies, I think was good for that. Just to keep them, like, I'm still up there and she is still making birdies."
Brittany Lincicome, who entered Saturday two shots behind Ochoa, carded a 69 for 202. Her third-place finish was the best of her young LPGA career.
Veteran Juli Inkster tied the course record with a nine-under 63 to finish fourth at 13-under 203. Inkster's round included a run of seven consecutive birdies starting on No 6 and her round could have been even lower if not for bogeys at 13 and 15.
"I played very well today. I just hit a lot of really good shots. "I was hitting the ball so good, I felt I could birdie every hole. It's not often that you get in that little bit of a zone. So it was fun."
Comments
Comments are closed.