Tamie Durdin has dual membership on the LPGA and JLPGA, but she's staying in Japan this month to make sure she secures her card on her home tour for 2011. If she can pull off shots like the following she did for Ricoh in the run-up to the Women's British Open, she'll be just fine! It looks to me like these were done live, with no trick photography....
Take that, Pink Panther!
Monday, October 4, 2010
2010 Worldwide Women's Professional Golf Schedule: LPGA, JLPGA, KLPGA, LET
It's time to put up a clean version of my previous overviews of the worldwide women's professional golf schedule for all the major tours in 2010.
Check back here for updates to the list of winners as the year goes on.
DECEMBER 2009
17-19: Orient China Ladies Open (KLPGA) SO YEON RYU
FEBRUARY 2010
18-21: Honda PTT LPGA Thailand (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO
25-28: HSBC Women's Champions (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO; New Zealand Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
MARCH 2010
4-7: ANZ Ladies Masters (LET) KARRIE WEBB
5-7: Daikin Orchid Ladies Open (JLPGA) SUN JU AHN
11-14: Women's Australian Open (LET) YA NI TSENG
12-14: Yokohama Tire PRGR Ladies Cup (JLPGA) YUN JYE WEI
18-20: Lalla Meryem Cup (LET) ANJA MONKE
19-21: T Points Ladies Open (JLPGA) RUI KITADA
25-28: Kia Classic Presented by J Golf (LPGA) HEE KYUNG SEO
APRIL 2010
1-4: Kraft Nabisco Championship (LPGA major) YA NI TSENG
2-4: Yamaha Ladies Open (JLPGA) MIHO KOGA
7-9: Kim Young Joo Golf Ladies Open (KLPGA) BO MEE LEE
9-11: Studio Alice Ladies Open (JLPGA) CHIE ARIMURA
14-16: Lotte Mart Ladies Open J Golf Series (KLPGA) BO BAE KIM
16-18: Nishijin Ladies Classic (JLPGA) INBEE PARK
23-25: Fujisankei Ladies Classic (JLPGA) MAYU HATTORI
29-5/2: Tres Marias Championship (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO
30-5/2: Cyber Agent Ladies Cup (JLPGA) JI-YAI SHIN
MAY 2010
5-7: Rush & Cash Charity Classic (KLPGA) HYE YOUN KIM
6-9: Salonpas Cup (JLPGA major) MORGAN PRESSEL
7-9: Turkish Ladies Open (LET) MELISSA REID
13-16: Bell Micro LPGA Classic (LPGA) SE RI PAK; Unicredit Ladies German Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
14-16: Fundokin Ladies (JLPGA) SAKURA YOKOMINE; Taeyoung Cup Korean Women's Open (KLPGA major) SOO JIN YANG
20-23: Sybase Match Play Championship (LPGA) SUN YOUNG YOO; Doosan Match Play Championship (KLPGA) JUNG MIN LEE
21-23: Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open (JLPGA) YURI FUDOH
27-30: Ladies Slovak Open (LET) MARIA HERNANDEZ
28-30: Yonex Ladies (JLPGA) MI-JEONG JEON
JUNE 2010
4-6: Resort Trust Ladies Open (JLPGA) YOSHIMI KODA, Woori Financial Ladies Championship (KLPGA) HYUN JOO LEE, ABN AMRO Ladies Open (LET) FLORENTYNA PARKER
9-11: S-OIL Champions Invitational (KLPGA) RAN HONG
10-13: LPGA State Farm Classic (LPGA) CRISTIE KERR, Suntory Ladies Open (JLPGA) AKANE IIJIMA
17-20: Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
18-20: ShopRite LPGA Classic (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO, Nichirei PGM Ladies (JLPGA) MI-JEONG JEON
24-27: LPGA Championship Presented by Wegmans (LPGA major) CRISTIE KERR
25-27: Ladies Open of Portugal (LET) KAREN LUNN
JULY 2010
1-4: Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic (LPGA) NA YEON CHOI, Tenerife Ladies Open (LET) TRISH JOHNSON
2-4: Nichi-Iko Ladies/JMA Engineering Women's Open (JLPGA) HYUN-JU SHIN
8-11: U.S. Women's Open (LPGA major) PAULA CREAMER
9-11: Meiji Chocolate Cup (JLPGA) YURI FUDOH
16-18: Stanley Ladies (JLPGA) SUN-JU AHN
22-25: Evian Masters (LPGA limited-field event/LET major) JI-YAI SHIN
29-8/1: Ricoh Women's British Open (LPGA/LET major) YA NI TSENG
30-8/1: SBS Tour Hidden Valley Ladies Open (KLPGA) SHIN AE AHN
AUGUST 2010
4-6: Lyle & Scott Ladies Open (KLPGA) YOON JI CHO
6-8: AIB Ladies Irish Open (LET) SOPHIE GUSTAFSON
12-15: S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
13-15: NEC Karuizawa 72 Ladies (JLPGA) JI-HEE LEE, High1 Resort Cup SBS Charity Ladies Open (KLPGA) SHIN AE AHN
18-20: Ladies Scottish Open (LET) VIRGINIE LAGOUTTE-CLEMENT
19-22: Nefs Masterpiece (KLPGA) YOUNG-AE HAM
20-22: Safeway Classic (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO, CAT Ladies (JLPGA) AKIKO FUKUSHIMA
26-29: Canadian Women's Open (LPGA) MICHELLE WIE
27-29: Nitori Ladies Cup (JLPGA) NOBUKO KIZAWA, LIG Ladies Open (KLPGA) HEE KYUNG BAE, Finnair Ladies Masters (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
SEPTEMBER 2010
3-5: Golf5 Ladies (JLPGA) AKANE IIJIMA, Hyundai/Seoul Economic Daily Ladies Open (KLPGA) JEONG EUN LEE 5; UNIQA Ladies Golf Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
9-12: Konica Minolta Cup (JLPGA major) SAIKI FUJITA, Open de France Feminin (LET) TRISH JOHNSON
10-12: NW Arkansas Championship (LPGA) YA NI TSENG, Daewoo Securities Ladies Open (KLPGA) BO MEE LEE
16-19: KLPGA Championship (KLPGA major) JI-YAI SHIN, Open de Espana Femenino (LET) LAURA DAVIES
17-19: Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic (JLPGA) MI-JEONG JEON
24-26: Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open (JLPGA) EUN-A LIM
30-10/3: Japan Women's Open (JLPGA major) MIKA MIYAZATO
OCTOBER 2010
7-10: Navistar LPGA Classic (LPGA) KATHERINE HULL
8-10: Sankyo Ladies Open (JLPGA) SUN-JU AHN, Himart Ladies Open J Golf Series (KLPGA) SOO JIN YANG
14-17: CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge (LPGA) BEATRIZ RECARI, Hite Cup Championship (KLPGA major) SOO HWA JANG
15-17: Fujitsu Ladies (JLPGA) SUN-JU AHN
21-24: KB Star Tour Grand Final (KLPGA major) BO MEE LEE
22-24: Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia (LPGA) JIMIN KANG, Masters GC Ladies (JLPGA) SAKURA YOKOMINE, Sanya Ladies Open (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
29-31: LPGA Hana Bank Championship (LPGA/KLPGA) NA YEON CHOI, Hisako Higuchi IDC Otsuka Kagu Ladies (JLPGA) RIKAKO MORITA, Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
NOVEMBER 2010
5-7: Mizuno Classic (LPGA/JLPGA) JI-YAI SHIN, KLPGA-LET Daishin Securities-Tomato Tour Korean Ladies Masters (KLPGA/LET) HYUN-JI KIM
11-13: Hero Honda Women's Indian Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
11-14: Lorena Ochoa Invitational (LPGA) IN-KYUNG KIM
12-14: Ito-En Ladies (JLPGA) MIKI SAIKI
19-21: Daio Paper ElleAir Ladies (JLPGA) NA-RI KIM, ADT CAPS Championship (KLPGA) AE RI PYUN
23-25: 3rd Stage (JLPGA Q-School) KAORI OHE (Ibaraki); KUMIKO KANEDA (Mie)
25-28: Ricoh Cup (JLPGA major) INBEE PARK
29-12/2: Pre-Qualifying Tournament (LET Q-School) CAROLINE HEDWALL (La Manga S/C); LOUISE LARSSON (La Manga N/C)
30-12/3: Final Qualifying Tournament (JLPGA Q-School) HEE YOUNG PARK
DECEMBER 2010
2-5: LPGA Tour Championship (LPGA) MARIA HJORTH
4-5:Pinx Cup (KLPGA/JLPGA team competition) [cancelled]
8-10: Omega Dubai Ladies Masters (LET) IBEN TINNING
8-12: Final Qualifying Tournament (LPGA Q-School) AREE SONG
15-19: Final Qualifying Tournament (LET Q-School) CAROLINE HEDWALL
Check back here for updates to the list of winners as the year goes on.
DECEMBER 2009
17-19: Orient China Ladies Open (KLPGA) SO YEON RYU
FEBRUARY 2010
18-21: Honda PTT LPGA Thailand (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO
25-28: HSBC Women's Champions (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO; New Zealand Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
MARCH 2010
4-7: ANZ Ladies Masters (LET) KARRIE WEBB
5-7: Daikin Orchid Ladies Open (JLPGA) SUN JU AHN
11-14: Women's Australian Open (LET) YA NI TSENG
12-14: Yokohama Tire PRGR Ladies Cup (JLPGA) YUN JYE WEI
18-20: Lalla Meryem Cup (LET) ANJA MONKE
19-21: T Points Ladies Open (JLPGA) RUI KITADA
25-28: Kia Classic Presented by J Golf (LPGA) HEE KYUNG SEO
APRIL 2010
1-4: Kraft Nabisco Championship (LPGA major) YA NI TSENG
2-4: Yamaha Ladies Open (JLPGA) MIHO KOGA
7-9: Kim Young Joo Golf Ladies Open (KLPGA) BO MEE LEE
9-11: Studio Alice Ladies Open (JLPGA) CHIE ARIMURA
14-16: Lotte Mart Ladies Open J Golf Series (KLPGA) BO BAE KIM
16-18: Nishijin Ladies Classic (JLPGA) INBEE PARK
23-25: Fujisankei Ladies Classic (JLPGA) MAYU HATTORI
29-5/2: Tres Marias Championship (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO
30-5/2: Cyber Agent Ladies Cup (JLPGA) JI-YAI SHIN
MAY 2010
5-7: Rush & Cash Charity Classic (KLPGA) HYE YOUN KIM
6-9: Salonpas Cup (JLPGA major) MORGAN PRESSEL
7-9: Turkish Ladies Open (LET) MELISSA REID
13-16: Bell Micro LPGA Classic (LPGA) SE RI PAK; Unicredit Ladies German Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
14-16: Fundokin Ladies (JLPGA) SAKURA YOKOMINE; Taeyoung Cup Korean Women's Open (KLPGA major) SOO JIN YANG
20-23: Sybase Match Play Championship (LPGA) SUN YOUNG YOO; Doosan Match Play Championship (KLPGA) JUNG MIN LEE
21-23: Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open (JLPGA) YURI FUDOH
27-30: Ladies Slovak Open (LET) MARIA HERNANDEZ
28-30: Yonex Ladies (JLPGA) MI-JEONG JEON
JUNE 2010
4-6: Resort Trust Ladies Open (JLPGA) YOSHIMI KODA, Woori Financial Ladies Championship (KLPGA) HYUN JOO LEE, ABN AMRO Ladies Open (LET) FLORENTYNA PARKER
9-11: S-OIL Champions Invitational (KLPGA) RAN HONG
10-13: LPGA State Farm Classic (LPGA) CRISTIE KERR, Suntory Ladies Open (JLPGA) AKANE IIJIMA
17-20: Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
18-20: ShopRite LPGA Classic (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO, Nichirei PGM Ladies (JLPGA) MI-JEONG JEON
24-27: LPGA Championship Presented by Wegmans (LPGA major) CRISTIE KERR
25-27: Ladies Open of Portugal (LET) KAREN LUNN
JULY 2010
1-4: Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic (LPGA) NA YEON CHOI, Tenerife Ladies Open (LET) TRISH JOHNSON
2-4: Nichi-Iko Ladies/JMA Engineering Women's Open (JLPGA) HYUN-JU SHIN
8-11: U.S. Women's Open (LPGA major) PAULA CREAMER
9-11: Meiji Chocolate Cup (JLPGA) YURI FUDOH
16-18: Stanley Ladies (JLPGA) SUN-JU AHN
22-25: Evian Masters (LPGA limited-field event/LET major) JI-YAI SHIN
29-8/1: Ricoh Women's British Open (LPGA/LET major) YA NI TSENG
30-8/1: SBS Tour Hidden Valley Ladies Open (KLPGA) SHIN AE AHN
AUGUST 2010
4-6: Lyle & Scott Ladies Open (KLPGA) YOON JI CHO
6-8: AIB Ladies Irish Open (LET) SOPHIE GUSTAFSON
12-15: S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
13-15: NEC Karuizawa 72 Ladies (JLPGA) JI-HEE LEE, High1 Resort Cup SBS Charity Ladies Open (KLPGA) SHIN AE AHN
18-20: Ladies Scottish Open (LET) VIRGINIE LAGOUTTE-CLEMENT
19-22: Nefs Masterpiece (KLPGA) YOUNG-AE HAM
20-22: Safeway Classic (LPGA) AI MIYAZATO, CAT Ladies (JLPGA) AKIKO FUKUSHIMA
26-29: Canadian Women's Open (LPGA) MICHELLE WIE
27-29: Nitori Ladies Cup (JLPGA) NOBUKO KIZAWA, LIG Ladies Open (KLPGA) HEE KYUNG BAE, Finnair Ladies Masters (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
SEPTEMBER 2010
3-5: Golf5 Ladies (JLPGA) AKANE IIJIMA, Hyundai/Seoul Economic Daily Ladies Open (KLPGA) JEONG EUN LEE 5; UNIQA Ladies Golf Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
9-12: Konica Minolta Cup (JLPGA major) SAIKI FUJITA, Open de France Feminin (LET) TRISH JOHNSON
10-12: NW Arkansas Championship (LPGA) YA NI TSENG, Daewoo Securities Ladies Open (KLPGA) BO MEE LEE
16-19: KLPGA Championship (KLPGA major) JI-YAI SHIN, Open de Espana Femenino (LET) LAURA DAVIES
17-19: Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic (JLPGA) MI-JEONG JEON
24-26: Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open (JLPGA) EUN-A LIM
30-10/3: Japan Women's Open (JLPGA major) MIKA MIYAZATO
OCTOBER 2010
7-10: Navistar LPGA Classic (LPGA) KATHERINE HULL
8-10: Sankyo Ladies Open (JLPGA) SUN-JU AHN, Himart Ladies Open J Golf Series (KLPGA) SOO JIN YANG
14-17: CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge (LPGA) BEATRIZ RECARI, Hite Cup Championship (KLPGA major) SOO HWA JANG
15-17: Fujitsu Ladies (JLPGA) SUN-JU AHN
21-24: KB Star Tour Grand Final (KLPGA major) BO MEE LEE
22-24: Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia (LPGA) JIMIN KANG, Masters GC Ladies (JLPGA) SAKURA YOKOMINE, Sanya Ladies Open (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
29-31: LPGA Hana Bank Championship (LPGA/KLPGA) NA YEON CHOI, Hisako Higuchi IDC Otsuka Kagu Ladies (JLPGA) RIKAKO MORITA, Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open (LET) LEE-ANNE PACE
NOVEMBER 2010
5-7: Mizuno Classic (LPGA/JLPGA) JI-YAI SHIN, KLPGA-LET Daishin Securities-Tomato Tour Korean Ladies Masters (KLPGA/LET) HYUN-JI KIM
11-13: Hero Honda Women's Indian Open (LET) LAURA DAVIES
11-14: Lorena Ochoa Invitational (LPGA) IN-KYUNG KIM
12-14: Ito-En Ladies (JLPGA) MIKI SAIKI
19-21: Daio Paper ElleAir Ladies (JLPGA) NA-RI KIM, ADT CAPS Championship (KLPGA) AE RI PYUN
23-25: 3rd Stage (JLPGA Q-School) KAORI OHE (Ibaraki); KUMIKO KANEDA (Mie)
25-28: Ricoh Cup (JLPGA major) INBEE PARK
29-12/2: Pre-Qualifying Tournament (LET Q-School) CAROLINE HEDWALL (La Manga S/C); LOUISE LARSSON (La Manga N/C)
30-12/3: Final Qualifying Tournament (JLPGA Q-School) HEE YOUNG PARK
DECEMBER 2010
2-5: LPGA Tour Championship (LPGA) MARIA HJORTH
4-5:
8-10: Omega Dubai Ladies Masters (LET) IBEN TINNING
8-12: Final Qualifying Tournament (LPGA Q-School) AREE SONG
15-19: Final Qualifying Tournament (LET Q-School) CAROLINE HEDWALL
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Japan Women's Open Sunday: Mika Miyazato Goes Wire-to-Wire for Her 1st Professional Win
Today at the Japan Women's Open, Mika Miyazato shrugged off yesterday's late collapse and put aside memories of last year's even worse one during a nearly flawless final round in which she extended her 4-shot lead to 6 and made her 1st professional win a wire-to-wire affair.
How much did Miyazato dominate the most prestigious tournament in women's golf in Japan? Out of the 12 rounds in the 60s all week, Mikan had 3 of them; nobody else in the field had more than 1. It took Mikan only 23 holes to get to -6, whereas her closest competitor, Miki Saiki, didn't get there until her 65th hole. Nobody else broke the -5 barrier all week. Even with her flurry of 4 bogeys in her last 5 holes of yesterday's round, Miyazato made only 8 bogeys all week, only 1 more than her nearest competitor, Chie Arimura--but Arimura also made 2 doubles (as did Ayako Uehara, who made only 9 bogeys all week). On the other end, Mikan owned the longest birdie trains of the week; the 5-hole run on Friday that gave her a lead she never relinquished was amazing, but perhaps even more impressive was her 3-hole run on the back 9 today that decisively closed the door on a tenacious Saiki, who had birdied 5 of her 1st 13 holes. Plenty of other players went on similar runs this week (Momoko Ueda, for instance, bounced back from yesterday's 80 by going on 1 at the start of her round and making birdies in 4 of her 1st 6 holes), but none did it with the tournament on the line.
But perhaps a simpler measure of Mikan's dominance this week is the number of strokes by which she beat some of the best in the world of women's golf:
1st/-12 Mika Miyazato (68-67-73-68)
2nd/-6 Miki Saiki (71-71-71-69)
3rd/-5 Sun-Ju Ahn (73-72-71-67)
4th/-4 Chie Arimura (70-70-75-69)
T5/-3 Na Yeon Choi (72-69-74-70), Ayako Uehara (68-73-71-73)
T7/-1 Sakura Yokomine (73-71-71-72), Hee Young Park (76-66-73-72)
9th/E Ai Miyazato (72-70-72-74)
10th/+1 Eun-Hee Ji (74-70-73-72)
T11/+2 Ah-Reum Hwang (72-71-77-70), Eun-A Lim (75-74-70-71)
T13/+3 Hyun-Ju Shin (77-68-70-76)
T15/+4 Ya Ni Tseng (71-76-74-71), Yuri Fudoh (70-74-77-71)
T17/+6 Song-Hee Kim (72-77-73-72), Shinobu Moromizato (73-74-74-73)
T19/+7 Momoko Ueda (74-70-80-71), Danielle Kang [a] (75-75-72-73), Kaori Aoyama (77-69-75-74), Natsuka Hori [a] (73-70-73-79)
T23/+8 Yuki Ichinose (75-78-72-71), Ritsuko Ryu (78-71-74-73)
T25/+9 Asako Fujimoto (75-71-75-76)
T27/+10 Young Kim (75-74-77), Ji-Woo Lee (77-73-75-73), Na-Ri Lee (71-79-74-74), Ji-Hee Lee (69-75-80-74), Mamiko Higa [a] (73-74-73-78)
T33/+11 Nikki Campbell (72-72-81-74), Hiromi Takesue (73-77-73-76)
T36/+12 Saiki Fujita (75-74-79-72), Mie Nakata (73-78-75-74), Serena Aoki [a] (76-75-73-76), Yukari Baba (73-75-73-79)
T40/+13 Mayu Hattori (77-74-74-76), Asuka Kashiwabara [a] (73-76-75-77), Na-Ri Kim (74-77-71-79), Rikako Morita (76-72-72-81)
46th/+14 Harukyo Nomura [a] (75-73-78-76)
T47/+15 Akane Iijima (74-77-77-75)
T50/+16 Rui Kitada (79-74-75-76)
61st/+21 Mami Fukuda [a] (75-77-77-80)
T64/+24 Miho Mori [a] (77-75-80-80)
66th/+25 Onnarin Sattayabanphot (77-76-79-83)
Among the non-winners, Sun-Ju Ahn padded her money-list lead by blowing by Sakura Yokomine in the final round, Ai Miyazato lost ground to Na Yeon Choi but gained it on every other player in top 10 of the Rolex Rankings, Danielle Kang did a great job to hang in there and tie for low amateur honors with Natsuka Hori, and amateur Harukyo Nomura did respectably a couple of months before the final stage of LPGA Q-School, which she qualified for a little less than a month ago.
So here's how the JLPGA money list now stands:
1. Sun-Ju Ahn ￥89.95M
2. Sakura Yokomine ￥67.01M
3. Mi-Jeong Jeon ￥62.66M
4. Yuri Fudoh ￥54.78M
5. Saiki Fujita ￥54.65M
6. Akane Iijima ￥54.56M
7. Yukari Baba ￥53.35M
8. Chie Arimura ￥52.65M
9. Nikki Campbell ￥50.00M
10. Rui Kitada ￥49.67M
11. Ji-Hee Lee ￥45.37M
12. Inbee Park ￥44.23M
13. Shinobu Moromizato ￥38.35M
14. Ayako Uehara ￥37.36M
15. Young Kim ￥36.76M
16. Eun-A Lim ￥36.61M
17. Miki Saiki ￥35.22M
18. Mayu Hattori ￥35.10M
19. Miho Koga ￥34.53M
20. Mie Nakata ￥34.19M
21. Na-Ri Kim ￥31.55M
22. Hyun-Ju Shin ￥30.88M
23. Hiromi Takesue ￥29.19M
24. Ji-Woo Lee ￥28.72M
25. Hiromi Mogi ￥28.63M
26. Akiko Fukushima ￥28.21M
27. Ji-Yai Shin ￥26.34M
28. Asako Fujimoto ￥25.83M
29. Bo-Bae Song ￥25.63M
30. Ah-Reum Hwang ￥23.43M
31. Na-Ri Lee ￥21.99M
32. Yun-Jye Wei ￥21.92M
33. Maiko Wakabayashi ￥21.66M
34. Rikako Morita ￥20.73M
35. Kaori Aoyama ￥20.34M
With non-members like Morgan Pressel and now Mika Miyazato taking the top prize in 2 of the year's 1st 3 majors, there's less money concentrated among the JLPGA's finest this season than most. Momoko Ueda, who's stuck at #37 on the money list with just under ￥20M in 13 starts, is staying on the JLPGA for a good reason--just 1 really good finish can vault her far up the money list and secure her card for 2011. Ai Miyazato, at #43 with just under ￥17M in only 5 starts, will have a lot of pressure on her in her last 2 JLPGA starts--the Mizuno Classic and the Ricoh Cup (for which she received a special invitation)--to get or stay in the top 50 and keep her JLPGA card for next season, as well. But it's off to Alabama for her, Mikan, and Na Yeon Choi. Ai-sama's got a chance to take the lead in both the LPGA money list and Player of the Year race with both Ji-Yai Shin and Ya Ni Tseng on the sidelines next week.
[Update 1 (6:54 am): At some point, Mikan will have to decide if she wants to become a dual LPGA-JLPGA member like Ai Miyazato, Ji-Yai Shin, Inbee Park, Momoko Ueda, Seon Hwa Lee, Shiho Oyama, Teresa Lu, and Tamie Durdin. For that matter, I'm wondering how many other LPGAers will seek dual membership on the JLPGA for next year. Will Salonpas Cup winner Morgan Pressel? Will anyone from the top 20 on the 2009 LPGA money list enter the last stage of the JLPGA's Q-School? With the LPGA Tour Championship taking place the 1st week of December (the same week as the team international competition known as the Pinx Cup when it's hosted by Korea and the Kyoraku Cup when it's hosted by Japan), and with the JLPGA having some wiggle room in when they schedule their Q-School's final stage, it'll be a clear indication of how eager tour officials are for Ya Ni Tseng, Na Yeon Choi, Song-Hee Kim, and Eun-Hee Ji to be dual members in 2011 by how exactly they schedule the final stage's rounds. (Actually, given how badly Seon Hwa Lee, Teresa Lu, and Tamie Durdin have done on the JLPGA thus far this season, they, too, would probably have to play the final stage to keep their cards.)]
[Update 2 (6:56 am): Sun-Ju Ahn's final-round 67 got her near the 90 million yen mark on the season and extended her lead on Sakura Yokomine to more than 20 million yen. She has a fantastic chance to become the 1st-ever Korean and 2nd-ever non-Japanese money-list leader. Ai-Yu Tu of Taiwan did it in 1982-1986, 1989, and 1991. She was as dominant back then as Yuri Fudoh was in the 2000s and Hisako Higuchi in the 1st decade of the JLPGA's existence!]
[Update 3 (7:11 am): Here's my Waggle Room version of this post.]
[Update 4 (7:27 am): You can find a different version at Hound Dog LPGA.]
[Update 5 (9:15 am): Here's the Kyodo News story.]
[Update 6 (9:19 am): BTW, Ryo Ishikawa finished 2 strokes out of a playoff in his bid to defend his title this week on the JGTO, so I'm hoping Mikan's win will be the biggest golf story in Japan today.]
[Update 7 (10/4/10, 7:44 am): Great montage from derr2000/LPGA Fan!
Check out the last few images to see how much this win meant to Mika--and Ai!]
[Update 8 (7:51 am): Here are the highlights--and hugs--from a Japanese news show:
If I understood her correctly at the end, Mikan said something like the next step is to win in America.]
[Update 9 (8:10 am): Just realized Mikan turns 21 on 10/10/10!]
[Update 10 (2:09 pm): Nice write-up by Golf Girl on Mikan's win. I appreciate the compliments, but in the spirit of honesty must point out that I get all my KLPGA news from Seoul Sisters.com and its founder's Seoul Sisters blog--both in my left sidebar!]
How much did Miyazato dominate the most prestigious tournament in women's golf in Japan? Out of the 12 rounds in the 60s all week, Mikan had 3 of them; nobody else in the field had more than 1. It took Mikan only 23 holes to get to -6, whereas her closest competitor, Miki Saiki, didn't get there until her 65th hole. Nobody else broke the -5 barrier all week. Even with her flurry of 4 bogeys in her last 5 holes of yesterday's round, Miyazato made only 8 bogeys all week, only 1 more than her nearest competitor, Chie Arimura--but Arimura also made 2 doubles (as did Ayako Uehara, who made only 9 bogeys all week). On the other end, Mikan owned the longest birdie trains of the week; the 5-hole run on Friday that gave her a lead she never relinquished was amazing, but perhaps even more impressive was her 3-hole run on the back 9 today that decisively closed the door on a tenacious Saiki, who had birdied 5 of her 1st 13 holes. Plenty of other players went on similar runs this week (Momoko Ueda, for instance, bounced back from yesterday's 80 by going on 1 at the start of her round and making birdies in 4 of her 1st 6 holes), but none did it with the tournament on the line.
But perhaps a simpler measure of Mikan's dominance this week is the number of strokes by which she beat some of the best in the world of women's golf:
1st/-12 Mika Miyazato (68-67-73-68)
2nd/-6 Miki Saiki (71-71-71-69)
3rd/-5 Sun-Ju Ahn (73-72-71-67)
4th/-4 Chie Arimura (70-70-75-69)
T5/-3 Na Yeon Choi (72-69-74-70), Ayako Uehara (68-73-71-73)
T7/-1 Sakura Yokomine (73-71-71-72), Hee Young Park (76-66-73-72)
9th/E Ai Miyazato (72-70-72-74)
10th/+1 Eun-Hee Ji (74-70-73-72)
T11/+2 Ah-Reum Hwang (72-71-77-70), Eun-A Lim (75-74-70-71)
T13/+3 Hyun-Ju Shin (77-68-70-76)
T15/+4 Ya Ni Tseng (71-76-74-71), Yuri Fudoh (70-74-77-71)
T17/+6 Song-Hee Kim (72-77-73-72), Shinobu Moromizato (73-74-74-73)
T19/+7 Momoko Ueda (74-70-80-71), Danielle Kang [a] (75-75-72-73), Kaori Aoyama (77-69-75-74), Natsuka Hori [a] (73-70-73-79)
T23/+8 Yuki Ichinose (75-78-72-71), Ritsuko Ryu (78-71-74-73)
T25/+9 Asako Fujimoto (75-71-75-76)
T27/+10 Young Kim (75-74-77), Ji-Woo Lee (77-73-75-73), Na-Ri Lee (71-79-74-74), Ji-Hee Lee (69-75-80-74), Mamiko Higa [a] (73-74-73-78)
T33/+11 Nikki Campbell (72-72-81-74), Hiromi Takesue (73-77-73-76)
T36/+12 Saiki Fujita (75-74-79-72), Mie Nakata (73-78-75-74), Serena Aoki [a] (76-75-73-76), Yukari Baba (73-75-73-79)
T40/+13 Mayu Hattori (77-74-74-76), Asuka Kashiwabara [a] (73-76-75-77), Na-Ri Kim (74-77-71-79), Rikako Morita (76-72-72-81)
46th/+14 Harukyo Nomura [a] (75-73-78-76)
T47/+15 Akane Iijima (74-77-77-75)
T50/+16 Rui Kitada (79-74-75-76)
61st/+21 Mami Fukuda [a] (75-77-77-80)
T64/+24 Miho Mori [a] (77-75-80-80)
66th/+25 Onnarin Sattayabanphot (77-76-79-83)
Among the non-winners, Sun-Ju Ahn padded her money-list lead by blowing by Sakura Yokomine in the final round, Ai Miyazato lost ground to Na Yeon Choi but gained it on every other player in top 10 of the Rolex Rankings, Danielle Kang did a great job to hang in there and tie for low amateur honors with Natsuka Hori, and amateur Harukyo Nomura did respectably a couple of months before the final stage of LPGA Q-School, which she qualified for a little less than a month ago.
So here's how the JLPGA money list now stands:
1. Sun-Ju Ahn ￥89.95M
2. Sakura Yokomine ￥67.01M
3. Mi-Jeong Jeon ￥62.66M
4. Yuri Fudoh ￥54.78M
5. Saiki Fujita ￥54.65M
6. Akane Iijima ￥54.56M
7. Yukari Baba ￥53.35M
8. Chie Arimura ￥52.65M
9. Nikki Campbell ￥50.00M
10. Rui Kitada ￥49.67M
11. Ji-Hee Lee ￥45.37M
12. Inbee Park ￥44.23M
13. Shinobu Moromizato ￥38.35M
14. Ayako Uehara ￥37.36M
15. Young Kim ￥36.76M
16. Eun-A Lim ￥36.61M
17. Miki Saiki ￥35.22M
18. Mayu Hattori ￥35.10M
19. Miho Koga ￥34.53M
20. Mie Nakata ￥34.19M
21. Na-Ri Kim ￥31.55M
22. Hyun-Ju Shin ￥30.88M
23. Hiromi Takesue ￥29.19M
24. Ji-Woo Lee ￥28.72M
25. Hiromi Mogi ￥28.63M
26. Akiko Fukushima ￥28.21M
27. Ji-Yai Shin ￥26.34M
28. Asako Fujimoto ￥25.83M
29. Bo-Bae Song ￥25.63M
30. Ah-Reum Hwang ￥23.43M
31. Na-Ri Lee ￥21.99M
32. Yun-Jye Wei ￥21.92M
33. Maiko Wakabayashi ￥21.66M
34. Rikako Morita ￥20.73M
35. Kaori Aoyama ￥20.34M
With non-members like Morgan Pressel and now Mika Miyazato taking the top prize in 2 of the year's 1st 3 majors, there's less money concentrated among the JLPGA's finest this season than most. Momoko Ueda, who's stuck at #37 on the money list with just under ￥20M in 13 starts, is staying on the JLPGA for a good reason--just 1 really good finish can vault her far up the money list and secure her card for 2011. Ai Miyazato, at #43 with just under ￥17M in only 5 starts, will have a lot of pressure on her in her last 2 JLPGA starts--the Mizuno Classic and the Ricoh Cup (for which she received a special invitation)--to get or stay in the top 50 and keep her JLPGA card for next season, as well. But it's off to Alabama for her, Mikan, and Na Yeon Choi. Ai-sama's got a chance to take the lead in both the LPGA money list and Player of the Year race with both Ji-Yai Shin and Ya Ni Tseng on the sidelines next week.
[Update 1 (6:54 am): At some point, Mikan will have to decide if she wants to become a dual LPGA-JLPGA member like Ai Miyazato, Ji-Yai Shin, Inbee Park, Momoko Ueda, Seon Hwa Lee, Shiho Oyama, Teresa Lu, and Tamie Durdin. For that matter, I'm wondering how many other LPGAers will seek dual membership on the JLPGA for next year. Will Salonpas Cup winner Morgan Pressel? Will anyone from the top 20 on the 2009 LPGA money list enter the last stage of the JLPGA's Q-School? With the LPGA Tour Championship taking place the 1st week of December (the same week as the team international competition known as the Pinx Cup when it's hosted by Korea and the Kyoraku Cup when it's hosted by Japan), and with the JLPGA having some wiggle room in when they schedule their Q-School's final stage, it'll be a clear indication of how eager tour officials are for Ya Ni Tseng, Na Yeon Choi, Song-Hee Kim, and Eun-Hee Ji to be dual members in 2011 by how exactly they schedule the final stage's rounds. (Actually, given how badly Seon Hwa Lee, Teresa Lu, and Tamie Durdin have done on the JLPGA thus far this season, they, too, would probably have to play the final stage to keep their cards.)]
[Update 2 (6:56 am): Sun-Ju Ahn's final-round 67 got her near the 90 million yen mark on the season and extended her lead on Sakura Yokomine to more than 20 million yen. She has a fantastic chance to become the 1st-ever Korean and 2nd-ever non-Japanese money-list leader. Ai-Yu Tu of Taiwan did it in 1982-1986, 1989, and 1991. She was as dominant back then as Yuri Fudoh was in the 2000s and Hisako Higuchi in the 1st decade of the JLPGA's existence!]
[Update 3 (7:11 am): Here's my Waggle Room version of this post.]
[Update 4 (7:27 am): You can find a different version at Hound Dog LPGA.]
[Update 5 (9:15 am): Here's the Kyodo News story.]
[Update 6 (9:19 am): BTW, Ryo Ishikawa finished 2 strokes out of a playoff in his bid to defend his title this week on the JGTO, so I'm hoping Mikan's win will be the biggest golf story in Japan today.]
[Update 7 (10/4/10, 7:44 am): Great montage from derr2000/LPGA Fan!
Check out the last few images to see how much this win meant to Mika--and Ai!]
[Update 8 (7:51 am): Here are the highlights--and hugs--from a Japanese news show:
If I understood her correctly at the end, Mikan said something like the next step is to win in America.]
[Update 9 (8:10 am): Just realized Mikan turns 21 on 10/10/10!]
[Update 10 (2:09 pm): Nice write-up by Golf Girl on Mikan's win. I appreciate the compliments, but in the spirit of honesty must point out that I get all my KLPGA news from Seoul Sisters.com and its founder's Seoul Sisters blog--both in my left sidebar!]
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Japan Women's Open Saturday: Mika Miyazato Gets to -12, Drops to -8, Ends with 4-Shot Lead
Mika Miyazato had a chance to turn the Japan Women's Open into her own personal walk in the park, but bogeyed 4 of her last 5 holes today to fall from -12 to -8 and keep fellow Okinawans Ayako Uehara and Ai Miyazato within reach of the door she just opened. Mikan's lead would be even smaller, however, if her namesake, playing 2 groups ahead of her, hadn't bogeyed 3 of her last 4 holes. But the Miyazatos weren't the only ones having trouble today. In fact, except for a smattering of 70s and 71s, most of the field was stuck in reverse on moving day. Na Yeon Choi opened with a birdie-free 40 on the front; Hee Young Park finished double bogey-bogey; Eun-Hee Ji bogeyed 3 of her last 4 holes; amateur Mamiko Higa followed up a 33 on the front with a 40 on the back; Yuri Fudoh, Momoko Ueda, and Nikki Campbell failed to break 80.
Check out the scores from the leaders and notables to see more of what I'm talking about:
1st/-8 Mika Miyazato (68-67-73)
2nd/-4 Ayako Uehara (68-73-71)
3rd/-3 Miki Saiki (71-71-71)
4th/-2 Ai Miyazato (72-70-72)
T5/-1 Hyun-Ju Shin (77-68-70), Sakura Yokomine (73-71-71), Hee Young Park (76-66-73), Na Yeon Choi (72-69-74), Chie Arimura (70-70-75)
T10/E Sun-Ju Ahn (73-72-71), Natsuka Hori [a] (73-70-73)
12th/+1 Eun-Hee Ji (74-70-73)
14th/+3 Eun-A Lim (75-74-70)
T15/+4 Rikako Morita (76-72-72), Mamiko Higa [a] (73-74-73), Ah-Reum Hwang (72-71-77)
T19/+5 Yukari Baba (73-75-73), Shinobu Moromizato (73-74-74), Ya Ni Tseng (71-76-74), Kaori Aoyama (77-69-75), Asako Fujimoto (75-71-75), Yuri Fudoh (70-74-77)
T25/+6 Na-Ri Kim (74-77-71), Danielle Kang [a] (75-75-72), Song-Hee Kim (72-77-73)
T29/+7 Hiromi Takesue (73-77-73), Ritsuko Ryu (78-71-74)
T31/+8 Serena Aoki [a] (76-75-73), Na-Ri Lee (71-79-74), Asuka Kashiwabara [a] (73-76-75), Momoko Ueda (74-70-80), Ji-Hee Lee (69-75-80)
T38/+9 Yuki Ichinose (75-78-72), Mayu Hattori (77-74-74), Ji-Woo Lee (77-73-75), Nikki Campbell (72-72-81)
T42/+10 Mie Nakata (73-78-75), Young Kim (75-74-77), Harukyo Nomura [a] (75-73-78)
T47/+12 Rui Kitada (79-74-75), Akane Iijima (74-77-77), Saiki Fujita (75-74-79)
T50/+13 Mami Fukuda [a] (75-77-77)
T56/+14 Onnarin Sattayabanphot (77-76-79)
T62/+16 Miho Mori [a] (77-75-80)
Given Mikan's Sunday struggles when in contention in her brief professional career, particularly in last year's final round of the JWO, not to mention her late collapse today, the 10 players at par or better behind her are still very much in the running. Will Na Yeon Choi, Hee Young Park, Hyun-Ju Shin, or Sun-Ju Ahn get the 3rd consecutive win for their native South Korea at the JWO tomorrow? Will it turn out to be an all-Okinawa showdown? Will one of the Kyushu natives (Kagoshima's Sakura Yokomine or Kumamoto's Chie Arimura) rise to the top? Or will Hiroshima's own Miki Saiki or Tokushima's amateur sensation Natsuka Hori claim the JWO title? Stay tuned!
[Update 1 (10/3/10, 9:27 am): Here are the 3rd-round highlights via youtube:
All Miyazato all the time, apparently!]
Check out the scores from the leaders and notables to see more of what I'm talking about:
1st/-8 Mika Miyazato (68-67-73)
2nd/-4 Ayako Uehara (68-73-71)
3rd/-3 Miki Saiki (71-71-71)
4th/-2 Ai Miyazato (72-70-72)
T5/-1 Hyun-Ju Shin (77-68-70), Sakura Yokomine (73-71-71), Hee Young Park (76-66-73), Na Yeon Choi (72-69-74), Chie Arimura (70-70-75)
T10/E Sun-Ju Ahn (73-72-71), Natsuka Hori [a] (73-70-73)
12th/+1 Eun-Hee Ji (74-70-73)
14th/+3 Eun-A Lim (75-74-70)
T15/+4 Rikako Morita (76-72-72), Mamiko Higa [a] (73-74-73), Ah-Reum Hwang (72-71-77)
T19/+5 Yukari Baba (73-75-73), Shinobu Moromizato (73-74-74), Ya Ni Tseng (71-76-74), Kaori Aoyama (77-69-75), Asako Fujimoto (75-71-75), Yuri Fudoh (70-74-77)
T25/+6 Na-Ri Kim (74-77-71), Danielle Kang [a] (75-75-72), Song-Hee Kim (72-77-73)
T29/+7 Hiromi Takesue (73-77-73), Ritsuko Ryu (78-71-74)
T31/+8 Serena Aoki [a] (76-75-73), Na-Ri Lee (71-79-74), Asuka Kashiwabara [a] (73-76-75), Momoko Ueda (74-70-80), Ji-Hee Lee (69-75-80)
T38/+9 Yuki Ichinose (75-78-72), Mayu Hattori (77-74-74), Ji-Woo Lee (77-73-75), Nikki Campbell (72-72-81)
T42/+10 Mie Nakata (73-78-75), Young Kim (75-74-77), Harukyo Nomura [a] (75-73-78)
T47/+12 Rui Kitada (79-74-75), Akane Iijima (74-77-77), Saiki Fujita (75-74-79)
T50/+13 Mami Fukuda [a] (75-77-77)
T56/+14 Onnarin Sattayabanphot (77-76-79)
T62/+16 Miho Mori [a] (77-75-80)
Given Mikan's Sunday struggles when in contention in her brief professional career, particularly in last year's final round of the JWO, not to mention her late collapse today, the 10 players at par or better behind her are still very much in the running. Will Na Yeon Choi, Hee Young Park, Hyun-Ju Shin, or Sun-Ju Ahn get the 3rd consecutive win for their native South Korea at the JWO tomorrow? Will it turn out to be an all-Okinawa showdown? Will one of the Kyushu natives (Kagoshima's Sakura Yokomine or Kumamoto's Chie Arimura) rise to the top? Or will Hiroshima's own Miki Saiki or Tokushima's amateur sensation Natsuka Hori claim the JWO title? Stay tuned!
[Update 1 (10/3/10, 9:27 am): Here are the 3rd-round highlights via youtube:
All Miyazato all the time, apparently!]
Friday, October 1, 2010
Japan Women's Open Friday: Mika Miyazato Making History Repeat Itself
Mika Miyazato, the co-leader of the Japan Women's Open after 18 holes, now holds a 5-shot lead on her nearest competitor after 36. A 5-hole birdie train on the back 9 turned a solid round into a fantastic 67, bringing her to -9 heading into the weekend--exactly where she stood at this stage of Japan's biggest women's tournament last year. With only 9 other players under par, and only Chie Arimura within 5 shots of her, Mikan has a great opportunity to make up for her Sunday disappointment at last year's JWO and get her 1st win as a professional.
But to do that, she's going to have to have a great moving day. Although some of the LPGA's top golfers fell off the pace today--Ya Ni Tseng's 76 dropped her to +3 overall and Song-Hee Kim's 77 to +5--Mikan's closest pursuers include world #1 Ai Miyazato (70, -2), world #6 Na Yeon Choi (69, -3), and Hee Young Park (66, -2), the former KLPGA star known as The Rocket for her ability to blow up (in both a good and a bad way). And lurking at even par are former JLPGA money-list champions Yuri Fudoh, Momoko Ueda, and Sakura Yokomine, not to mention former U.S. Women's Open champion Eun-Hee Ji and former JWO champion Ji-Hee Lee.
Still, Mikan's gotten lots of help from the rest of the JLPGA's finest. Defending champion Bo-Bae Song missed the cut, as did Mi-Jeong Jeon, Miho Koga, and Yuko Mitsuka. Current JLPGA money list leader Sun-Ju Ahn is 10 shots back and Shinobu Moromizato, who almost won last year's money list title, is 12 behind Mikan. In fact, the only "name" JLPGAers even close to the lead are Arimura, 1st-round co-leader Ayako Uehara (who recovered from an opening 39 to salvage a 73 and stay within 6 shots of the lead), and Miki Saiki (who shot her 2nd-straight 71 to join Ai-sama and The Rocket at -2).
So here's how the leaders and notables stand heading into the weekend:
1st/-9 Mika Miyazato (68-67)
2nd/-4 Chie Arimura (70-70)
T3/-3 Na Yeon Choi (72-69), Ayako Uehara (68-73)
T5/-2 Hee Young Park (76-66), Ai Miyazato (72-70), Miki Saiki (71-71)
T8/-1 Natsuka Hori [a] (73-70), Tomomi Hirose (73-70), Ah-Reum Hwang (72-71)
T11/E Momoko Ueda (74-70), Eun-Hee Ji (74-70), Nikki Campbell (72-72), Sakura Yokomine (73-71), Yuri Fudoh (70-74), Ji-Hee Lee (69-75)
T17/+1 Hyun-Ju Shin (77-68), Sun-Ju Ahn (73-72)
T19/+2 Kaori Aoyama (77-69), Asako Fujimoto (75-71)
T22/+3 Shinobu Moromizato (73-74), Mamiko Higa [a] (73-74), Ya Ni Tseng (71-76)
T26/+4 Rikako Morita (76-72), Harukyo Nomura [a] (75-73), Yukari Baba (73-75)
T29/+5 Ritsuko Ryu (78-71), Saiki Fujita (75-74), Young Kim (75-74), Eun-A Lim (75-74), Asuka Kashiwabara [a] (73-76), Song-Hee Kim (72-77)
T37/+6 Ji-Woo Lee (77-73), Danielle Kang [a] (75-75), Hiromi Takesue (73-77), Na-Ri Lee (71-79)
T44/+7 Mayu Hattori (77-74), Serena Aoki [a] (76-75), Akane Iijima (74-77), Na-Ri Kim (74-77), Mie Nakata (73-78)
T56/+8 Miho Mori [a] (77-75), Mami Fukuda [a] (75-77)
T60/+9 Rui Kitada (79-74), Onnarin Sattayabanphot (77-76), Yuki Ichinose (75-78)
MC: Miho Koga (77-77), Mi-Jeong Jeon (76-78), Yuko Mitsuka (76-78), Bo-Bae Song (75-79), Yun-Jye Wei (80-76), Chieko Amanuma (81-77), Akiko Fukushima (80-78), Jae-Hee Bae (78-80), Mai Arai (78-80), Erina Hara (77-81), Woo-Soon Ko (84-84)
The way Ai-sama has been playing on Sundays this year, Mikan had better hold or extend her lead tomorrow!
[Update 1 (8:03 pm): Always fun to see where the JLPGAers are from, via places like the 3rd-round pairings sheet. Hoping to see al all-Okinawan final pairing for Sunday!]
[Update 2 (10/3/10, 9:28 am): Here are the highlights from Ai Miyazato's round:
Missed a short putt on Saturday, too. Just not her week!]
But to do that, she's going to have to have a great moving day. Although some of the LPGA's top golfers fell off the pace today--Ya Ni Tseng's 76 dropped her to +3 overall and Song-Hee Kim's 77 to +5--Mikan's closest pursuers include world #1 Ai Miyazato (70, -2), world #6 Na Yeon Choi (69, -3), and Hee Young Park (66, -2), the former KLPGA star known as The Rocket for her ability to blow up (in both a good and a bad way). And lurking at even par are former JLPGA money-list champions Yuri Fudoh, Momoko Ueda, and Sakura Yokomine, not to mention former U.S. Women's Open champion Eun-Hee Ji and former JWO champion Ji-Hee Lee.
Still, Mikan's gotten lots of help from the rest of the JLPGA's finest. Defending champion Bo-Bae Song missed the cut, as did Mi-Jeong Jeon, Miho Koga, and Yuko Mitsuka. Current JLPGA money list leader Sun-Ju Ahn is 10 shots back and Shinobu Moromizato, who almost won last year's money list title, is 12 behind Mikan. In fact, the only "name" JLPGAers even close to the lead are Arimura, 1st-round co-leader Ayako Uehara (who recovered from an opening 39 to salvage a 73 and stay within 6 shots of the lead), and Miki Saiki (who shot her 2nd-straight 71 to join Ai-sama and The Rocket at -2).
So here's how the leaders and notables stand heading into the weekend:
1st/-9 Mika Miyazato (68-67)
2nd/-4 Chie Arimura (70-70)
T3/-3 Na Yeon Choi (72-69), Ayako Uehara (68-73)
T5/-2 Hee Young Park (76-66), Ai Miyazato (72-70), Miki Saiki (71-71)
T8/-1 Natsuka Hori [a] (73-70), Tomomi Hirose (73-70), Ah-Reum Hwang (72-71)
T11/E Momoko Ueda (74-70), Eun-Hee Ji (74-70), Nikki Campbell (72-72), Sakura Yokomine (73-71), Yuri Fudoh (70-74), Ji-Hee Lee (69-75)
T17/+1 Hyun-Ju Shin (77-68), Sun-Ju Ahn (73-72)
T19/+2 Kaori Aoyama (77-69), Asako Fujimoto (75-71)
T22/+3 Shinobu Moromizato (73-74), Mamiko Higa [a] (73-74), Ya Ni Tseng (71-76)
T26/+4 Rikako Morita (76-72), Harukyo Nomura [a] (75-73), Yukari Baba (73-75)
T29/+5 Ritsuko Ryu (78-71), Saiki Fujita (75-74), Young Kim (75-74), Eun-A Lim (75-74), Asuka Kashiwabara [a] (73-76), Song-Hee Kim (72-77)
T37/+6 Ji-Woo Lee (77-73), Danielle Kang [a] (75-75), Hiromi Takesue (73-77), Na-Ri Lee (71-79)
T44/+7 Mayu Hattori (77-74), Serena Aoki [a] (76-75), Akane Iijima (74-77), Na-Ri Kim (74-77), Mie Nakata (73-78)
T56/+8 Miho Mori [a] (77-75), Mami Fukuda [a] (75-77)
T60/+9 Rui Kitada (79-74), Onnarin Sattayabanphot (77-76), Yuki Ichinose (75-78)
MC: Miho Koga (77-77), Mi-Jeong Jeon (76-78), Yuko Mitsuka (76-78), Bo-Bae Song (75-79), Yun-Jye Wei (80-76), Chieko Amanuma (81-77), Akiko Fukushima (80-78), Jae-Hee Bae (78-80), Mai Arai (78-80), Erina Hara (77-81), Woo-Soon Ko (84-84)
The way Ai-sama has been playing on Sundays this year, Mikan had better hold or extend her lead tomorrow!
[Update 1 (8:03 pm): Always fun to see where the JLPGAers are from, via places like the 3rd-round pairings sheet. Hoping to see al all-Okinawan final pairing for Sunday!]
[Update 2 (10/3/10, 9:28 am): Here are the highlights from Ai Miyazato's round:
Missed a short putt on Saturday, too. Just not her week!]
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