Miyazato eases to second Evian Masters victory

WOMEN'S GOLF EVIAN MASTERS:AI MIYAZATO held off the challenge of Stacy Lewis to claim her second Evian Masters title in France yesterday.

The 5ft 2in Japanese star, small in stature but with a large heart and an abundance of talent, vowed to gift at least some of her bumper €63,080 first prize, if not all, to the victims of the earthquake that devastated northern Japan in March.

“I haven’t decided yet what to do exactly, whether it’ll be all the amount or a sum of it, but I’ll definitely be making donations from this earning,” said Miyazato.

The 26-year-old from Okinawa wears a button on her hat to publicise the foundation she created with fellow tour players Mika Miyazato and Momoko Ueda.

“I’m wearing this button because I want to get as much help and support from not just Japan, but all over the world,” she added.

“By wearing this button and playing, I have Japan in my thoughts, and gives me motivation to play as well.”

Miyazato won five times on the LPGA Tour last season and briefly held the world number one spot, but she admitted she had found it hard to focus on her game this season, as she was feeling for her friends in Sendai, where she attended high school.

“It was so many happenings the beginning of the season, like I said. Last year was last year, and then this year is going to be really fresh. I didn’t, you know, in a hurry at all. So I just trying to take one tournament in a time. I just did working hard, and it’s paid off right now,” she said.

“It’s feeling amazing, you know. This is my favourite tournament, so I really happy that could win this tournament again.”

Miyazato posted rounds of 68-68-67 and 70 to finish at 15-under-par 273, two clear of American Lewis (70) and one stroke better than her winning total of 2009, when she defeated Sophie Gustafson in a play-off.

Starting the day with a two-stroke lead, Miyazato birdied the third, sixth and eighth holes for an outward total of three under 33. She carded a further birdie and two bogeys – at the 12th and 14th – to come home in 37, but her victory was never really in doubt.

The closest threats came from In-Kyung Kim of Korea, who birdied two of her first three holes to get within a stroke of Miyazato’s lead early in the round, and fellow Korean Ran Hong, who birdied the second to get within one.

The field will now head straight to Carnoustie in Scotland for the Ricoh Women’s British Open, a completely different type of test for the year’s final major.