Mika Miyazato gets 1st LPGA win in Oregon
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Mika Miyazato carded a 2-under 70 on Sunday to hold on for a two-stroke victory at the Safeway Classic and her first LPGA Tour title.
Miyazato finished at 13-under par 203, and broke through for the win that was long in the making for her. The 22-year-old has been close to her first title many times, especially this year.
She tied for third at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, then was a runner-up at both the LPGA Championship and Arkansas Championship.
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But Miyazato found her way into the winner's circle thanks to a clean round at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club that included three birdies and a single bogey.
She finished two strokes ahead of Brittany Lincicome (67) and Inbee Park (69), who shared second at minus-11. Haeji Kang (66), Cristie Kerr (70) and So Yeon Ryu (71) tied for fourth at 10-under 206.
Miyazato began the round two strokes ahead of Ryu, the previous week's winner at the Jamie Farr Owens Toledo Classic.
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But Miyazato didn't make the kind of frequent mistakes that cost players titles, turning in a clean front nine that included two birdies. She bogeyed No. 10 to dip to minus-12, and her lead was down to one stroke.
Ryu had birdied that same hole to get to minus-11, but didn't make up the remaining shot. She bogeyed the 15th and couldn't recover, following a birdie at 16 with a bogey at 18.
Miyazato and Ryu were playing in the final group, and none of the other preceding players could match Miyazato's score.
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Park needed to recover from two early bogeys that pushed her back to minus-6, while Kerr reached 10-under only after a late charge.
But Park and Kerr began Sunday three strokes behind Miyazato, who, as it turns out, was too far ahead of the field to catch.
NOTES: World No. 1 Yani Tseng carded a 1-over 73 and finished alone in 11th at 6-under 210. She was under par for the first two rounds, the first time she'd posted back-to-back under par rounds since the Kraft Nabisco Championship...Miyazato pocketed $225,000 for the victory...Next week, the LPGA Tour heads to British Columbia, Canada for the CN Canadian Women's Open. Lincicome was the winner last year.