Mizuno Classic
Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club
Shima-shi, Mie, Japan
Final round notes and interviews
November 6, 2011
Momoko Ueda -16 200, Rolex Rankings No. 81
Shanshan Feng -16 200, Rolex Rankings No. 20
It was a fight to the finish, but Momoko Ueda of Japan won a three-hole playoff against China’s Shanshan Feng at the Mizuno Classic. The two players were tied at 16-under 200 after three rounds, forcing extra holes at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club in Shima-shi, Mie, Japan.
Claiming her second title at the Mizuno Classic, Ueda carded a 3-under 69 in today’s final round, while Feng started the day four shots off the lead and ripped through the course with a 7-under 65 to charge into a share of the lead.
Feng had a 15-foot putt on the 18th hole in regulation to take the lead, but couldn’t convert the birdie. Then Ueda, playing in the final group, also had a chance to seal the win in regulation, but left her 16-foot birdie putt 10 inches to the right of the hole.
“When I missed that birdie putt, I thought I had lost my luck to win,” said Ueda, who won the 2007 Mizuno Classic to gain membership on the 2008 LPGA Tour. “But my caddie told me to just enjoy this and to just finish it.”
On the first playoff hole, Ueda struck her approach shot to within five feet, but she burned the left edge of the cup and tapped in for par. Feng two-putted from 20 feet for par.
“I really thought she was going to make that putt,” said Feng, 22, the first full-status member of the LPGA Tour from the People’s Republic of China. “I thought, ‘Good, she gave me another chance.’”
Returning to the 18th hole for the second extra hole, both players landed their approach shots to the front portion of the green and both two-putted for par. Ueda parred the hole from 30 feet, while Feng got up and down for par from 40 feet.
On the third trip to the 18th hole, Feng’s approach landed 25 feet left of the hole. Her birdie attempt missed right and she tapped in for par. Ueda, buoyed by a swelling crowd of flag-waving Japanese fans around the last green, hit her approach to 15 feet and then stepped up and watched her putt slowly trickle into the cup.
“It was my first playoff ever in my life,” said Feng, who earned her second career runner-up finish on the LPGA Tour. “The third time we played that hole, she made a good putt to win and I feel happy for her. This was her week.”
It also was Ueda’s round. In today’s final round, she hit an errant shot on the ninth hole that ricocheted off a fan’s head and bounced back into the fairway. Ueda birdied the hole.
“The man told me he was OK and said, ‘I just want to see you play. I don’t have time to go to the hospital. Just do your best,’” said Ueda.
And this week, the player who has struggled to find her rhythm and comfort level in America for the last four years, earned her second LPGA title on familiar soil.
Na Yeon Choi of South Korea posted a final-round score of 8-under 64 to finish third at 15-under 201. She made her move on Sunday to improve from a tie for ninth to solo third place.
Japan’s Sakura Yokomine was awarded 300,000 yen for her low score of the week. Yokomine carded a 9-under 63 in the second round.
Three more punch tickets to CME Group Titleholders. Christina Kim of California, Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand, and tournament winner Momoko Ueda of Japan all earned spots into the CME Group Titleholders by being the top-three eligible LPGA finishers in the Mizuno Classic. The season-ending LPGA tournament will be held at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 17-20. Players will have one more chance to qualify for the limited-field event at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Banamex, Jalisco It Happens Within You.
Big moves in Sunday’s final round. LPGA rookie Christel Boeljon of The Netherlands carded a 7-under 65 in the final round of the Mizuno Classic to jump from a tie for 34th into a tie for ninth ... Stacy Lewis of Texas went deep with another 7-under 65 to move from a tie for 18th to a tie for sixth ... Playing in her last LPGA tournament of the year before going home to South Korea to observe her late mother’s memorial on November 8, past Mizuno Classic champion Jiyai Shin posted a final-round score of 6-under 66 to improve from a tie for 26th to a tie for ninth.
Webb is pleased with LPGA-sanctioned event in Australia. LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb is pleased with the LPGA’s recent announcement that the tour, in conjunction with Golf Australia and Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG), will add an official LPGA event in Australia next year. The 2012 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open will be staged Feb. 6-12, at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
“I think it’s great for women’s golf in Australia and it is something we really need right now,” said Webb, a native of Queensland, Australia. “It’s just going to raise the level of excitement for the event and the profile of the tournament.”
With a number of solid young professionals coming out of Australia and competing around the world on the Ladies European Tour, the LPGA Futures Tour and on the Japan LPGA, Webb says the new tournament will be especially beneficial to those young pros and top amateurs who aspire to play on the LPGA Tour.
“They will get to see what it’s like to play an LPGA event on their home turf and they will have the chance to complete against LPGA pros,” said Webb, who has offered sponsorship for rising young Australian pros for the last several years. “It will give them something even bigger to shoot for.”
Was the new full-field LPGA event in Australia something that Webb has personally pushed for? Yes and no, she said, but an official tournament in her home country has been something she has wanted for a while.
“We’ve struggled financially to raise enough money in Australia to host an LPGA event, so it will be great if we can continue to have a tournament for years to come,” added Webb.
A key component of that stability is the co-sanctioning of Australia’s event by the LPGA Tour, which Webb called “the ultimate” in securing visibility and corporate backing, not only in Australia, but globally.
“Hopefully, if the profile is raised at this tournament, there will be other companies wanting to get on board,” added Webb.
Q. Why have you stayed in America to play golf?
UEDA. I want to see how I can play abroad. Other players on the LPGA are so strong and I see how Mika [Miyazato] has played so well this year. When I missed two weeks in a row to go play on the JLPGA, I thought about quitting the LPGA. The JLPGA is also a high level of competition. But sometimes, it's not always about playing golf. It's also to learn the (English) language.
Q. When you thought about leaving the LPGA, did you ever talk to former LPGA players Ayako Okamoto or Hiromi Kobayashi for advice?
UEDA: Hiromi told me I should do my best on the LPGA Tour. Ayako said to choose which tour I wanted to play and to focus on it.
Q. Why do you play so well on this course?
UEDA: I don't know why. I got lucky. I am comfortable. Maybe the pearls here bring me luck.
Q. What did that fan say to you after you accidentally hit him in the head with your golf ball?
UEDA: The man told me he was OK and he said, "I just want to see you play. I don't have time to go to the hospital. Just do your best."
SHANSHAN FENGQ. Were you surprised that Momoko missed a short birdie chance on the first playoff hole?
FENG: I really thought she was going to make that putt. When she missed, I thought, "Good, she gave me another chance."
Q. How disappointed were you to come so close to winning your first LPGA tournament?
FENG: It was my first playoff ever in my life. I feel good about the way I played. The third time we played that hole [No. 18], she made a good putt to win and I feel happy for her.
