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Saiki clinches LPGA Tour title
American veteran Kim Saiki won the $1.5 million Wegmans Rochester tournament on Sunday, for the first victory in her 12 years on the LPGA Tour.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:04 am IST
Read Time: 2 min
Pittsford, New York:
American veteran Kim Saiki won the $1.5 million Wegmans Rochester tournament on Sunday, for the first victory in her 12 years on the LPGA Tour.
The 38-year-old Saiki shot a 1-under 71 and overtook compatriot and former winner Rosie Jones by four strokes.
The event was played at the Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York - just outside Rochester.
The day came down to a battle between two Americans - Saiki and Rosie Jones.
Jones took the lead at 13-under-par with a birdie putt on the eighth hole, as Saiki looked on.
Close fight
Looking for her third victory here in seven years, Jones took a one-stroke lead three times during the course of the final round.
But Saiki got the lead back when her approach shot on the 12th hole came to a stop just centimetres from the cup. She made the birdie putt and again took the lead at 13-under-par.
Saiki struck again with her wedge after another great approach shot on the 14th hole to set up another birdie to get back to 13-under-par after she faltered with a bogey at hole 13.
The decisive moment in the match came on the 14th green when Jones missed a putt for bogey and ended up with a double bogey and dropped two strokes.
At that stage, she was three behind Saiki at 10-under-par.
Final tally
Jones made it interesting when she sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the very next hole and put some pressure on Saiki.
But the winless tour veteran answered when she dropped an even longer putt for a clutch par, and maintained a two stroke lead.
Saiki finished 14-under 274 at the tree-lined Locust Hill course, with a final par putt for the victory.
Jones shot a 74 to drop back into a tie for second with Mi Hyun Kim (72) of South Korea, a runner-up here in 2002 who picked up her 10th top-10 finish this year.
Jones won here in 1998 and 1991 and lost in a playoff to Kathy Whitworth in 1984.
Saiki earned $225 thousand to leap from 77th to 14th on the LPGA money list. Her career earnings rose to $1.6 million. (AP)
Topics mentioned in this article
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