PATTAYA, Feb 20 - Yani Tseng of Taiwan scored a sizzling final round six-under-par 66 on Sunday to capture the Honda LPGA Thailand by five shots and easily defend the world No. 1 ranking she secured for the first time in her career last week.
The 22-year-old, who finished the tournament with a 15-under-par 273, was locked in a tight battle with challengers I.K. Kim of South Korea and American Michelle Wie early in the final round.
Kim and Wie managed to stay within one shot of the Taiwanese star over the first nine holes and appeared capable of challenging for the title.
But Tseng began to pull away with three birdies on the first four holes of the back nine, and when Kim, who was lingering just two shots behind, imploded on the par-4 17th with a quintuple-bogey nine, Tseng’s victory was assured.
“Coming off the wins the past two weeks and then this week, I’ve stayed really positive, ” Tseng said when asked about her level of confidence after winning her sixth LPGA Tour title.
Wie, who was paired with Tseng in the final round, could not convert a number of makeable birdie putts and carded a 2-under 70 on the day to finish the tournament in second place, five shots behind the Taiwanese star.
The victory was Tseng’s third consecutive title in three weeks and her fourth straight win of the year.
She starting 2011 with a win in Taiwan at the Taifong Ladies Open in mid-January, and then won the Australian Women’s Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters to vault to the No. 1 ranking in the two weeks preceding the Thailand event, the LPGA Tour’s first event of the season.
As well as she is playing, talk immediately turned to her prospects to complete a career Grand Slam this year by winning the U.S. Open, one of Tseng’s avowed goals.
“That’s my dream to be a Grand Slam winner, especially the youngest. But there’s still like half a year to there, and I’ll keep working hard for that,” she said.
Tseng will try to keep her winning streak alive next week in Singapore at the HSBC Women’s Champions, which starts on Feb. 24.
(By Kendra Lin)
Credit: Pattaya Daily News (www.pattayadailynews.com)
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