OTSU, Japan (AP) — Jennifer Rosales finished second behind world No. 1 Annika Sorenstam of Sweden at the close of the Mizuno Classic Sunday at the Seta course here.
Rosales, 27, had another steady round of six-under par 66 spiked by an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, but her performance paled in comparison to Sorenstam’s swashbuckling 64 that made her the first player in LPGA Tour history to win a tournament five straight times.
The Filipino star, however, consoled herself with a second place finish, finishing 54 holes without a bogey. The feat assured her a spot in the season-ending ADT Championship reserved only for the tour’s top 30 players while adding another $90,691 (roughly P
5 million) to her coffers.
Before the Mizuno Classic, Rosales was ranked 30th with earnings of $401,068 (roughly P
22 million).
"It went well out there, but not the way I wanted it to, but I’m pretty happy with the way I played the whole week. It is the first time in a tournament that I didn’t make any bogeys, so that is unbelievable for me. I’m hitting the ball good and I’m just happy. I am proud of myself. I am very proud," Rosales exclaimed.
Rosales, who was one shot behind Sorenstam at the start of the day, matched the Swede’s 33 in the frontside, before levelling with birdies on the 10th and 12th holes.
But Sorenstam pulled away from Rosales and overnight leader Young Kim with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 after a similar eagle on the sixth, and birdied the final two holes — both par 5s — for the second straight day. The Swedish star finished at 21-under 195 on the Seta course.
"Actually, I made mine first (the eagle). She had a putt for eagle. It was fun that we both made an eagle. I chipped it in. I had about 60 yards and it went in. I didn’t even see it. People started clapping and I had a delayed reaction," Rosales said.
Sorenstam, 95 under in her last 15 rounds in the event, broke a tie with Laura Davies for the LPGA Tour record for consecutive victories in an event. Davies won the Standard Register Ping from 1994-97.
The PGA Tour record for consecutive victories in an event is four, a mark shared by Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen and Tiger Woods.
Kim, the South Korean player who led after each of the first two rounds, shot a 70 to drop into a tie for third.
Sorenstam, who earned US$150,000 (euro125,700) to push her season total to US$2,373,240 (euro1,988,800), has nine LPGA Tour victories in 19 starts this year and also won a European tour event in Sweden.
She has 65 career LPGA Tour victories.
Sorenstam also matched the tour record for victories in a single event that she shares with Mickey Wright.
Japanese money leader Yuri Fudoh (64) and Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson (66) matched Kim at 16 under, and South Koreans Meena Lee (66) and Jeong Jang (69) and France’s Karine Icher (67) followed at 14 under.
