Taiwan's Teresa Lu birdied the last two holes and six of the final eight for a Sunday’s low score of eight-under 64 and earned a two-stroke victory Sunday in the $1.2 million Mizuno Classic played at the Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club in Shima-Shi, Mie, Japan.
Finishing tied for sixth on Saturday, Lu and South Korea’s Chella Choi engaged in battle as the overnight leaders could faltered to move forward.
With Lu and Choi sitting two-shots behind the Japanese leading trio, Choi stroke first and took the early lead after carding her fifth birdie of the day on teh Par-4 ninth hole, while Lu, who played one group behind her, made the turn at two-under and tied for second.
Lu sprinted to the outright lead with four-straight birdies on holes 11th through 14th. Choi's only birdie on the back-nine came on the Par-5 16th hole, which brought her to a tie for first with only two holes to play, but Lu carded a birdie on the Par-3 17th and took the lead again.
Choi's 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped around the cup and failed to fall in, but still wouldn't have been enough to pull the two into a playoff as Lu sank a 12-foot birdie putt to seal the win. Lu’s stellar Sunday’s low round concluded with nine birdies and only one bogey.
She finished with a total of 14-under 202 for the tournament.
The win Sunday is her first win on the LPGA Tour, where she gave up her membership in 2010. Prior to Sunday's victory, the 25-year-old native of Taipei had only won in tournaments held in Taiwan, including the Taifong Ladies Open in 2008, 2009 and 2012.
"I've been waiting for this day for so long," said Lu, who earned $180,000 for her victory. "This is my first win, it's been eight years on tour. I'm really happy. Really nervous and really happy."
Lu played on the LPGA Tour for four years and amassed eight Top-10 finishes with her best finish coming at the 2007 NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammonds where she finished tied for second.
She stopped being a member of the tour in 2010 to focus on playing in Japan. Lu said in the interview that she moved to Japan because it is closer to home than the United States and because she is more familiar with the environment there.
In 28 events in the 2013 season, Lu has tallied 13 Top-10 finishes including three runner-ups. She will "probably" get back on the LPGA Tour next season with this boost to her confidence, adding in that interview that those experiences helped push her towards her win this week.
"Beginning of this year, I got into two playoffs and in both of them, I lose," Lu said. "I guess I really learned from that and just tried to be calm."
Choi is no stranger to being knocking on the door of previous wins. Since joining the LPGA in 2009 she has been poised for a breakthrough win since the 2012 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic when she was the last to fall to American Brittany Lang in a four-way playoff that included compatriots Inbee Park and Hee Kyung Seo.
She has tallied 16 Top-10 finishes since then and has held the lead in two events this season, including the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic and the Wegmans LPGA Championship.
"I had very good confidence today," said Choi. "I just think, 'OK, one putt, just one stroke.' So I think birdie and focus. I don't know why, not nervous. Good experience for me. Disappointed, but satisfied."
Mamiko Higa and Yuki Ichinose, two of the three second-round co-leaders, posted two- under 70s and shared third place at 10-under-par 206. Shiho Oyama, the other second-round co-leader, managed a one-under 71 in the final round and ended tied for fifth alongside Yumiko Yoshida (68) at nine-under 207.
Asako Fujimoto posted a one-under 71 to finish alone in seventh place at eight- under 208. Rolex Rankings No. 3 and last year’s winner, American Stacy Lewis, could only muster a two-under 70 to end in a three-way tie for eighth at seven-under.
"I could have made some putts earlier I just couldn't seem to make any putts," Lewis said. "But to shoot two-under in this wind is a good score. It's pretty crazy what those two are doing today."
In that three-way tie with Lewis were South Korea’s Eun-Bi Jang and Rolex Rankings No. 7, China’s Shanshan Feng, who posted a round of six-under- 66 after a 72 and 71 the previous two rounds.
American Brittany Lincicome, a stroke off the lead entering the day, had a 77 to tie for 29th at 2 under.
Other notable finishes: two-time winner Jiyai Shin (69) T-11th at six-under 210; Catriona Matthew (69) T-13th at five-under 211; Rolex Rankings No. 4, So Yeon Ryu (71) T-27th at three-under and 2006 champ Karrie Webb (74) T-41st at even-par.
World number one Inbee Park of South Korea and Norway's Suzann Pettersen, ranked second, did not compete.
Lu, Haru Nomura and Hee-Won Han punched their "Ticket to CME Group Titleholders" at the Mizuno Classic, each earning a spot in the season-ending CME Group Titleholders event, which will be held Nov. 21-24, 2013 in Naples, Fla.
The third-annual CME Group Titleholders is a season finale with a field made up of three qualifiers from every LPGA Tour tournament.
The LPGA now returns to the Americas where Cristie Kerr is set to defend her title at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Banamex, to be played at the Guadalajara Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico this next weekend.