Pettersen wins Manulife LPGA Classic
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen recorded her 15th LPGA Tour victory after keeping her cool to triumph at the Manulife LPGA Classic in Canada by one stroke.
In addition to having won her first LPGA Tour tournament since the Sunrise Taiwan LPGA Championship in October 2013, Pettersen is expected to jump from 10th to fifth on the Rolex Rankings.
Brittany Lang was Pettersen’s main competitor late on, but the Norwegian kept her composure even when the American made a spirtied comeback.
World number one Lydia Ko found herself in a tie 27th on the leaderboard following a disappointing 71, while defending champion Inbee Park surged up the standings to finish tied 11th after a final-round 68.
After going bogey-free for the first three rounds, Pettersen slumped to bogeys on the second and fifth hole before recovering with consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth.
The 34-year-old enjoyed a lot more success on the back nine, making an eagle on the par-five 12th before faltering with her third bogey of the round at the 13th. But, she made up for it with successive birdies on the 16th, which saw her shot from the greenside bunker roll just two feet wide of the hole, and 17th before posting a par on the 18th to win her first LPGA Tour tournament in two years.
Lang began her run for the title with a birdie on the third, but slipped up on the fourth as she recorded her only bogey of the round. She rallied back with birdies on the fifth, seventh and ninth to enjoy a fairly successful front nine.
Despite making birdie on the 10th and registering a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th to 17th, Lang fell one agonising stroke short of setting up a playoff with Pettersen.
Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe came home in third after a final-round 72, which included three birdies and three bogeys.
After hitting 68s in the second and third round, Ko cooled down on Sunday, recording a 71. The New Zealander mirrored Lang’s showing by making a birdie on the third, a bogey on the fourth and a birdie on the fifth. But, unlike Lang, the 18-year-old was unable to stabilise after an up and down start as she made bogey on the seventh before completing her front nine with a birdie on the ninth.
Her back nine was just as varied as she started with a birdie on the 10th before carding her third bogey of the round on the 11th. She bounced back with a birdie on the very next hole before stumbling once again on the 17th, where she recorded yet another bogey.
Park meanwhile finished her tournament on a high as she rallied back from a third-round 70 by carding a 68 on Sunday.
Despite beginning with her lone bogey of the round on the first, Park bounced back by making birdies on the third and fifth.
The world number two enjoyed a bogey-free back nine as she made birdie on the 12th before going on to sink two more on the 15th and 16th.
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