Yani braves storm and darkness to lift Founders Cup

PHOENIX: World No. 1 Yani Tseng birdied five of the first six holes on the back nine after the second of three rain delays on Sunday on her way to a one–stroke triumph at the Founders Cup.

Taiwan’s Yani fired a four–under 68 in the final round of the Us$1.5mil event at Wildfire Golf Club to finish on 18-under 270, one stroke ahead of Japan’s Ai Miyazato and South Korean World No. 2 Choi Na–yeon.

Thunderstorm delays of 74 and 66 minutes stretched the day for the leaders, all playing in the final threesome. But Yani responded after the second stoppage with birdies at the par-4 10th and par-5 11th.

She ran off another streak of three in a row ending at the par-5 15th that was interrupted by a 42-minute storm delay, then parred the final three holes in a gathering gloom on the Arizona desert to take the victory.

“I was feeling like we were going to finish tomorrow, so we were really lucky to finish today and finish in the dark the last few holes,” said Yani.

“Because of my eyes, I couldn’t see much of a distance, so I told myself to just finish these few holes, just hit a good shot, good contact, play one shot at a time.”’

It was Yani’s second triumph in four starts this year after a successful title defence last month in Thailand and her 14th career crown.

She won 12 titles last year in a breakout season, seven of them in LPGA events and two at Majors. She will try to add to her Major total in two weeks at the Kraft Nabisco, where she was second last year to American Stacy Lewis.

Yani shared the 54-hole lead with Miyazato, her final round playing partner in Thailand when Miyazato also lost to the world No. 1 by a stroke. Miyazato, still in search of a Major title, was foiled in a bid for her eighth LPGA victory.

Miyazato birdied the par-4 third and par-5 fifth holes and answered a bogey at the par-3 six with a birdie at the par-4 eighth, but could only muster a birdie at the par-4 16th on the back nine.

Na–yeon ran off three birdies in a row starting at the fifth but a double bogey at the eighth dropped her back before she bounced back with birdies at the 11th, 14th and 16th to fall just short.

Yani birdied the third but stumbled with back-to-back bogeys at seven and eight, only to set up her early back-nine surge that no foe could equal.