Mizuno Classic - Final Round

Ji-Yai Shin took command early and then cruised to a six-shot victory at the Mizuno Classic.  It was her second LPGA win of the season and her tenth worldwide.  Mayu Hattori finished in second place at -9, Eun-A Lim was third at -8 while Jee Young Lee, Il Mi Chung and Yun-Jye Wei finished tied for fourth at -7.

Starting the day with a two-shot lead, Shin blew it open with birdies at 2 and 3 and an eagle at the par-5 7^th to reach -14.  Hattori stayed within reach at -11 with birdies at 5, 6 and 7 but when she bogeyed 9 and doubled 12, the margin was six with six to play.  Ji-Yai birdied 13 to go up by seven and then played the final holes in even par to win easily.

Thanks to Shin's dominant play (68 on Friday was her worst round of the three), several fine performances got overshadowed.  Hattori finished second a week after winning a J-Tour event.  Fellow JLPGAer Lim claimed third with three birdies on the last four holes.  Lee grabbed her third straight Top 10 and second straight Top 5.  Sandra Gal vaulted from T57 to T16 with her final round 66 and Shinobu Moromizato fired a 65 to climb from T72 to T23.

Funny how an event that through the first round looked like anybody could win ended up with such a large margin of victory (not to mention how hard it is to win any 54-hole event by six).  The reigning British Open champ blew everyone away the last two days in a manner reminiscent of Lorena Ochoa.  That's how good Ji-Yai Shin might be.  It's too bad this tournament doesn't get any U.S. exposure or a lot more Americans would know what Asia already does - Ji-Yai Shin is a contender to overtake Ochoa as World #1 as soon as 2009.