This inaugural LPGA Lotte Championship has morphed into a tournament of champions. The tiniest champion takes a three-shot lead into today’s final round.
Ai Miyazato played small ball in more big winds Friday at Ko Olina Golf Club. The 26-year-old from Okinawa put an exclamation point on her 2-under-par 70 by launching her approach shot 154 yards into the wind on the final hole, to within 4 feet.
"I had a really nice number today," Miyazato said. "Just hit a nice and easy 7-iron, just a short bounce in front of the green. It was perfect, so I’m very happy with that."
Miyazato, whose misses are mostly a matter of inches, rolled the birdie putt into the heart of Ko Olina’s toughest hole.
She is at 10-under 206 after three rounds. Miyazato’s closest pursuers are Cristie Kerr (71) and Azahara Munoz (73), both at 209.
Miyazato and Munoz, who shared first at the halfway point, will play their fourth straight round together today.
"It’s awesome," said Munoz, a Spaniard who won the 2008 NCAA championship. "Between shots we talk. She’s always smiling. Obviously now she’s playing good, but even I played with her once at Grand Cypress and she shot 5 over and she was that nice. It doesn’t matter what she’s shooting. I’ve got a lot to learn from that."
They tee off with Kerr at 10:42 this morning. Ayaka Kaneko (71—217), the only Hawaii golfer to make the cut, moved up to 32nd place Friday. She tees off 2 hours earlier.
Top-ranked Yani Tseng and reigning U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu had the only rounds in the 60s Friday. Both shot 69 to seize a share of fourth, at 210, with Jiyai Shin (70), Meena Lee (71) and Angela Stanford (70). Shin was alone in second until taking a double bogey at the 15th.
Stanford won the last LPGA event played in Hawaii, overtaking Michelle Wie on the back nine at the 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay. Lee won the 2006 Fields Open in Hawaii, at Ko Olina.
Miyazato, Kerr, Shin and Tseng have all been ranked No. 1 in the world over the past two years. At one stage Friday, they were the first four names on the leaderboard.
Miyazato’s name never budged from the top. Munoz, 2010 Rookie of the Year, bogeyed two of the first three holes and Miyazato was too good to let anyone catch her.
She had four birdies and two bogeys and was never in danger on what might have been the toughest day wind-wise in a very difficult week. There were gusts of up to 25 mph that blew through Ko Olina constantly, but not consistently. Club selection was a crap shoot and players backed off putts all day.
Miyazato made it look like a simple walk in a windy park. Her sweet-and-slow backswing never wavered and her short game was money, as always.
"I’ve had this tempo since I was little," she shrugged. "It’s been a long time. I’m not tall and not big either, so I just focus on accuracy. Tempo makes you more consistent. Hit the ball well consistently and the ball flight is consistent. That’s why I keep my tempo.
"It’s actually not easy to keep tempo in this wind though. It was really difficult the last few days, but I had really good focus out there."
Her bogey-free 65 Thursday vaulted her into the lead. Her first bogey in 30 holes came at No. 12 Friday and cut her advantage to one. She curled her approach to about 3 feet on the next hole and, with contenders being blown back all around her, drained that to go up three again.
Miyazato will chase her eighth LPGA win today, but her first this year despite a sub-70 scoring average. She has been second to Tseng twice and has two more top-six finishes.
Ironically, she is coming off her worst weekend, at the year’s first major. "I couldn’t putt," Miyazato said flatly.
Her father fixed that, narrowing her stance and softening the grip of her right hand. She is back to being one of the best putters on the planet.
Apparently, that doesn’t give her much comfort in the Ko Olina wind tunnel.
"Three shots is nothing for me," Miyazato said. "If it gets windy tomorrow it’s going to be really tough again. I heard it’s going to rain too, so it’s going to be tough conditions out there. I just need to focus on my game one more day. … Just think really simple out there. That’s the key point. Not against other players, not against the scores."
Not against the greatest names in the game.
"I’m still thinking win," Tseng said. "Four or five shots is not really nothing on this golf course. Because, I mean, it was really windy. Get a couple more birdies back and try to make birdie on par-5s and be patient tomorrow and you never know."
