Mika Miyazato grabbed her first professional title yesterday, by winning the prestigious Japan Women's Open by six strokes.
This maiden maiden victory on the JLPGA must certainly have been sweet for Mikan, considering what happened a year ago. At the same 2009 event Miyazato entered the final round with a four-shot lead... just as she did yesterday, but late in the round the proverbial "wheels fell off", ultimately resulting in a disappointing T6 finish.
This year however the girl from Okinawa wasn't about to let history repeat itself... or at least that's how it seemed when she fired three consecutive birdies in the middle of the back nine... effectively removing all doubt that this was her year.
It was an impressive win, brought to my attention by The Constructivist whose blog, Mostly Harmless, has long been my top independent source of up-to-the-minute information on women's professional golf... and is without a doubt the definitive English language blog covering the Asian women's golf tours.
In the wake of 2010 The Ryder Cup... which reinforced the idea of golf as an increasingly global game... it's great to know there are excellent sources for news and information on golf in places that are now producing some of the world's best players.
And in the interest of fun, flirty and fashionable, check out this awesome mash-up of the past weekend's action at the Japan Women's Open.
Given the Ryder Cup's exciting finish, I am embarrassed to say I forgot all about this event. I knew it was going on because Yani Tseng had been mentioning it on Facebook. I'm glad Mika got her first win- and in her homeland. Do you happen to know where Yani finished up and maybe some other players we are interested in?? Could not find it in English. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI didn't catch it either Ducks :&
ReplyDeleteBut the "Mostly Harmless" site patricia refers to has all the goods, Ai was 9th, Yani was T15 and others we know from the LPGA. It's all here. :)
http://mlyhlss.blogspot.com/2010/10/japan-womens-open-sunday-mika-miyazato.html
Thanks ducks and jen. I change my link in the story to the one jen mentions as that goes directly to the Japan Open story. Also, the Constructivist provides an additional tip, seems he gets all his KLPGA news from SeoulSisters.com and the Seoul Sister's blog."
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a dumb question but is golf much more popular in Japan? Is the economy much better than ours or are the people bigger consumers or what?
ReplyDeleteI'm just trying to figure out why they have so much offered to them that's not available here. Even stuff from companies like Callaway and PUMA is much better in Japan. :(
I think it might be that the Japanese ladies look better in the "cute" clothes then the American ladies. I'm sure youd look great in those outfits Ash but most of the ladies, at least where I play, would not.
ReplyDeleteNot to generalize tooooo much, but the Japanese culture loves much that is American. They love jeans. They seemed to have loved golf before Se Ri Pak made it super popular in S. Korea. They love baseball. They love blondes!! Paula Creamer is super popular over there. Has a calendar published over there in Japan. Not readily available here. I'm sure they loved Morgan pressel until she went over there this year and won the Salonpas Cup (a Japanese major.) Then again, Morgan is such a wonderful ambassador for the LPGA, I doubt the Japanese would be too angry about that!
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