This is Mi Hyang Lee’s second full year on the LPGA Tour and she collected her first-ever title at the Mizuno Classic in Japan over the weekend.
Lee posted rounds of 69-67-69 to finish at 11-under-par to join a three-way playoff with fellow Korean Ilhee Lee and Kotono Kozuma from Japan. All three players went the distance for five playoff holes until M.H. Lee birdied the fifth playoff hole to win the $180,000 first-place check.
Speaking with the media after her round M.H. Lee said,
“It was my first playoff ever so before I started the playoff I was a little nervous. I just kept playing and made pars and birdies and the other players played really good. It was exciting when I made the last putt.”
M.H. Lee is the seventh first-time winner on the LPGA Tour this season and she said of the victory,
“I won on the Ladies European Tour in February in New Zealand and that gave me a lot of confidence. It’s pretty quick, this is only my second year out here. I think every tournament is a good experience for me and today was pretty great for me because I didn’t think I could win this tournament yet.”
Lee has had a very good 'Asian Swing.' She finished T-6 in the Reignwood LPGA Classic and T-8 in Malaysia. The win was just her fourth top-10 finish of the year. It gets her to No. 23 in the Race to the CME Globe and No. 50 on the Rolex Ranking.
Nine players tied for fourth at 10-under-par including three from Japan, Saiki Fujita, Sakura Yokomine and Ayako Uehara. Americans Morgan Pressel and Jessica Korda joined Karrie Webb, Chella Choi and Na-Ri Lee at T-4, just one shot out of the playoff.
Perhaps the biggest story of the week, however, was the performance of Dame Laura Davies, who held the 36-hole lead at nine-under-par. She could only manage a one-under-par 71 on the final day and fell into the big group at T-4.
Davies is 51 years old and started the week outside the Top-72 on the LPGA Tour. She needed a win to qualify for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational next week and the CME Group Tour Championship in two weeks.
Davies will enter the World Golf Hall of Fame in July and was bestowed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen of England in a ceremony in October. She was also on the short list for immediate membership into The Royal & Ancient, when they voted to allow women members in September.
In a season filled with great stories on the LPGA Tour a win for Davies at the Mizuno Classic would have been one of the best.