Evian Masters – Epilogue

Ai Miyazato's first LPGA victory came in her 91^st career start - not quite Leta Lindley or Natalie Gulbis territory.  Ai had collected 25 Top 10 finishes (a very good .278 career percentage) and six this season prior to yesterday so in her case it truly was "just a matter of time".  She jumps to fourth on the money list and into the HD Top 10.  UPDATE:  The party is still going on at Mostly Harmless.

I completely understand why tournaments like to contest their playoff holes at 18.  The crowd is still gathered there and the cart ride back to the tee doesn't take very long.  But I have a real problem with replaying the same hole again and again for however long the playoff lasts (which is Evian's format) especially when that hole is a par-5.  If 18 is a par-4, it's just an irritant for me but using a par-5 (or a par-3 to a much lesser extent) creates an uneven playing field.  I stand by my statement that Sophie Gustafson was favored by this format even though she didn't win.  Miyazato knew this too and was forced to take driver to compete - under pressure she striped the fairway with it.  Sophie used a 3-wood off the tee because her length allowed her to.  Having taken that precaution, she missed the fairway anyway and couldn't reach the green in two.  Despite this, Gustafson still could have extended the playoff by making a ten-foot putt.  If she had, she would have had the same advantage on Playoff Hole 2 and would probably have worn down her lighter-hitting competition like Helen Alfredsson did in three holes last year.  If an event's final hole is a par-5, the LPGA should mandate that the second hole of a playoff be contested at a different hole.

Meena Lee very nearly stole the show.  Starting the final round at -6 T16, Meena fired a 65 to finish just one shot out of the playoff.  Had she not bogeyed 12 and 13, she would have won outright.

Becky Brewerton was tied for the lead going into Sunday but struggled to a 76.  Three early bogeys set her back but she was able to climb back to -11 (and within a couple of shots of the lead) by 11 but a double-bogey at 14 was the final straw.  Becky wound up at -8 T13.  In-Kyung Kim never got going on Sunday but since she was making mostly pars, she was still in contention even after a bogey at 15 dropped her to -11.  Unfortunately pars at 16 and 17 lost enough ground to Miyazato and Gustafson that 18 became academic, and a closing bogey dropped Inky to -10 T8.

The Angela Park Rumor has been shot down, thankfully.  Angela's Facebook profile denies it and Larry also issued a retraction on his blog.  I am glad it wasn't true but am a little miffed at myself for giving it so much credence.  Not that Park's recent results wouldn't support that belief but I shouldn't readily jump to such conclusions.  My apologies.

Picking a Big Surprise at Evian is always difficult because of the strong field but I'll give it a go.  Meena Lee's last Top 10 was back in November at the Ochoa Invitational and her best finish over her last 11 starts was T26 at Corning (along with five missed cuts).  A tie for third was certainly a big surprise for me.  The Big Disappointment (for the second week in a row) is Yani Tseng, who did make the cut on the number but made up no ground over the weekend and finished T64.