CHONBURI, Thailand (AP)—Top-ranked Yani Tseng successfully defended her LPGA
Thailand title for her 13th LPGA Tour victory, with birdies on the final two
holes Sunday to hold off playing partner Ai Miyazato by a stroke.

The 23-year-old Taiwanese star shot a 6-under 66 to finish at 19-under 269
on Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course. She opened with a 73, then shot
consecutive 65s to enter the final round a shot behind Miyazato.

Last year, Tseng won the tournament for the first of her seven 2011 LPGA
Tour victories, including major victories in the LPGA Championship and Women’s
British Open. The five-time major champion finished the year with 12 worldwide
victories. She has 33 career worldwide professional victories.

Miyazato, the Japanese player who won the 2010 tournament, closed with a 68.
She also birdied the par-4 17th and par-5 18th.

South Korea’s Jiyai Shin, tied for the lead with Tseng after a birdie of her
own on 17, had a 67 to finish third at 17 under.

Tseng eagled the par-5 opening hole and Miyazato had a birdie, leaving them
tied at 15 under. Tseng took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 third, and
added birdies on the par-4 sixth and par-5 seventh. At the turn, she had a
three-stroke lead over Shin and four-shot advantage over Miyazato.

Shin, playing in a group ahead of Tseng and Miyazato, birdied the par-4 10th
to pull within two and gained another stroke when Tseng bogeyed the hole. Tseng
pushed her lead to two with a birdie on the par-3 12th, but bogeyed the par-4
13th.

Miyazato birdied the 10th and pulled within one of Tseng with a birdie on
the par-4 15th, then matched Tseng with a par on 16 and the birdies on 17 and
18.

South Korea’s Amy Yang shot a 69 to finish fourth at 14 under.

Sixteen-year-old Thai amateur Ariya Jutanugarn followed her third-round 65
with a 74 to tie for 12th at 7 under. She played the final five holes in 4 over,
making a double-bogey 7 on No. 18. Last year, Jutanugarn won the U.S. Junior
Girls’ Championship and was the Rolex Junior Player of the Year.

Second-ranked Suzann Pettersen had a 78 to drop into a tie for 21st at 4
under. She began the round four strokes out of the lead.

Michelle Wie closed with a 73 to tie for 38th at 1 over.

CHONBURI, Thailand (AP)—Ai Miyazato shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take
a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Yani Tseng after the third round of the LPGA
Thailand.

Miyazato, the Japanese player who won the 2010 tournament, birdied five of
the first six holes on the back nine. She had a 14-under 202 total on Siam
Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course.

“I think I have a good feeling with this golf course,” Miyazato said.
“It’s just the beginning of the season and a beautiful golf course and a nice
temperature today. The people are really nice over here and I’m just having a
really good time.”

Tseng, the winner last year, shot her second straight 65 after opening with
a 73. The Taiwanese star had 12 worldwide victories last year, seven on the LPGA
Tour.

“I hit so many great shots today and I just feel like my game is there,”
Tseng said. “I’m pretty confident and just will try to do it again tomorrow.”

Australia’s Karrie Webb and South Korea’s Jiyai Shin were 12 under.

Webb shot a 71, and Shin had a 68.

“I’ll take 1 under,” Webb said. “I really didn’t swing it well and it
progressively got worse as it went on, so I made some really good pars out there
today when I really was struggling with my swing. I’m glad that I haven’t played
my way out of it. I’m only two shots back, so I’ll have a nice Thai massage
tonight and my body will be back to normal by tomorrow, hopefully.”

Webb had a three-stroke lead Saturday morning after the completion of the
lightning-delayed second round, playing the final four holes in 1 under after a
65.

After the long day, Webb joked about the walk up the hill on the par-5 18th.

“It was definitely a lot steeper this evening after a 4:45 a.m. wakeup call
this morning,” the Hall of Famer said. “I’m glad to be done. There are still
18 holes to go, so hopefully I’ll be in good shape for tomorrow.”

Miyazato also returned early to finish the last five holes of her
second-round 70. “It was a really, really long day for me,” Miyazato said.”
I’ve been up since 4 o’clock this morning. But the temperature dropped down
today, so that helped a lot, too. So that’s why I think I could control myself
out there.”

She’s trying to win her eighth LPGA Tour title in the last four seasons.

“I just need to focus my game,” Miyazato said.

Miyazato played alongside Tseng.

“It was really fun,” Miyazato said. “It’s always fun to play with Yani.
We talked a lot and I think we’re very close. Just the attitude that she brings,
I really like it. I think we have good vibes with each other.

South Korea’s Amy Yang was 11 under after a 68. Second-ranked Norwegian star
Suzann Pettersen, the 2007 winner, was another stroke back after a 69.

Sixteen-year-old Thai amateur Ariya Jutanugarn had two eagles in a 65 that
left her at 9 under. Last year, she won the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship and
was the Rolex Junior Player of the Year.

Michelle Wie was even par after a 73.

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP)—Ai Miyazato shot a 5-under 67 Thursday to take a
one-stroke lead in the first round of the LPGA Thailand.

On a warm and humid day, the 2010 champion from Japan opened with a birdie
and later produced four more at the Pattaya Old Course.

“It was long and hot day for me. But I was calm this morning and could
control my shots,” Miyazato said. “I made no bogeys but made several birdies.
I hit well and putt well. I’m happy to take a lead and keep the score low.”

Miyazato said she will be protecting herself from the heat in the coming
days.

“I will have use umbrella a lot tomorrow and need some ice,” she said.

Five others were one shot behind, including third-ranked Choi Na-yoen. The
others are Se Ri Pak, Amy Yang, Anna Nordqvist and Karrie Webb.

Webb made a run on the back nine, sinking four birdie putts to close in on
Miyazato.

“The conditions besides the heat were pretty good,” Webb said. “We didn’t
have any breeze. I did think the pins were set pretty tough for first round
today.”

Numa Kulyanamitta (69) is tied for seventh along with Christel Boeljon,
while Stacy Lewis (70) dropped off the top of the leaderboard with a
triple-bogey on the last hole.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—A dry board in the office of LPGA Tour
commissioner Mike Whan is filled with black-and-blue, an appropriate color
scheme for a tour that had been taking its lumps over the last couple of years.

The colors are used for the schedule—blue ink for those that are a work in
progress, black ink for the done deals.

The board is mostly black these days.

A new LPGA Tour season gets under way this week at Royal Melbourne with the
Women’s Australian Open, one of four additional tournaments on the 2012 schedule
that have helped nudge momentum in a favorable direction.

Along with adding four tournaments, there no longer are large gaps in the
schedule. The LPGA Tour will not go more than two weeks without playing.

Bettye Danoff, one of the LPGA Tour’s 13 founding members, has died. She was
88.

The LPGA Tour said Danoff’s family confirmed she died Thursday in Texas.

At 5-foot-2 and barely 100 pounds, Danoff earned the nickname “Mighty
Mite” and was the first grandmother to play the tour. Before the formation of
the LPGA Tour, she beat Babe Zaharias 1-up as an amateur in the final of the
1947 Texas Women’s Open to end Zaharias’ 17-tournament winning streak.

Danoff won four straight Dallas Women’s Golf Association Championships from
1945-48, the women’s division of the Texas PGA in 1945 and 1946 and the Texas
Women’s Amateur in 1947 and 1948. The Texan, winless on the LPGA Tour, also
played exhibitions as an amateur with PGA Tour star Byron Nelson in the late
1940s.

“Bettye really did make a difference, in the world of golf—and all of us
are living proof,” LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said. “Because of her courage,
and the vision/belief of many others that followed our founders, we all get to
participate in a fantastic business and game.”

Danoff often traveled the tour with daughters Kaye, Janie and Debbie.

“I remember traveling for five consecutive tournaments with her while she
played,” Debbie Bell said. “She was often frustrated because she had to find
friends and people to help watch us while she competed.”

Born Bettye Mims, Danoff got her start in golf at 6 when her parents opened
a driving range and nine-hole course. That course, Sunset Golf Center in Grand
Prairie, Texas, is still in the Mims’ family.

Danoff and the others founders were honored in 2000 with the Commissioner’s
Award. Last year, the tour started the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix.

Danoff’s husband, Dr. Clyde Walter Danoff, died in 1961.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Christine Song shot a 2-under 70 in windy
conditions Friday on LPGA International’s Champions Course to increase her lead
to five strokes after the third round of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

“I was scrambling so much today,” said the 20-year-old Song, from
Fullerton, Calif. “My shots weren’t very good and my chipping and putting were
so-so, but I got it done.”

She had a 10-under 206 total in the five-round event.

The top 40 and ties will receive LPGA Tour membership.

Jennie Lee was second after a 69 on the Champions Course.

“I putted really well today and my short game was good,” said the
25-year-old Lee, a member of the Duke team that won the 2007 NCAA title on the
Legends Course. “I have some good memories here.”

Jacqui Concolino and amateur Stephanie Kono were 3 under. Concolino had a
71, and Kono shot a 75. They also played the Champions Course.

“My ball-striking just wasn’t very solid, so I need to go try to figure it
out on the range,” said Kono, a senior at UCLA. “Fortunately, there are two
more rounds to go.”

Concolino, a 24-year-old former Vanderbilt player, eagled the par-5 13th
hole, hitting a 3-wood from 235 yards to 8 feet.

“That was the shot of the day,” Concolino said. “I made a few really good
putts.”

Seventeen-year-old Ginger Howard, trying to become only the fourth black
player on the LPGA Tour, was tied for 27th at 4 over after a 71 on the Champions
Course. She shot a 79 on Thursday on the Legends Course.

YANG MEI, Taiwan (AP)—Yani Tseng won the LPGA Taiwan Championship on Sunday
for her 10th worldwide victory of the year and third in front of her adoring
home fans.

The 22-year-old Taiwanese star closed with a 6-under 66 at Sunrise for a
five-stroke victory over Spain’s Azahara Munoz and South Korea’s Amy Yang.

“I play really, really good today, I was bogey free,” Tseng said. “I wish
this year would go on forever so I could win more. But I can always get
better.”

The top-ranked Tseng finished at 16-under 272 and earned $300,000 for her
seventh LPGA Tour victory of the season to increase her tour-leading total to
$2,873,629. She donated $100,000 to the Taiwan Golf Association to support
junior golf.

Tseng won her first four events this year, taking the Taiwanese tour’s
Taifong Ladies and sweeping the Australian Women’s Open and Ladies Masters
before opening the LPGA Tour season with a victory in the LPGA Thailand.

The LPGA Tour player of the year for the second straight season, Tseng won
major titles this summer in the LPGA Championship and Women’s British Open and
has 12 victories in four seasons on the tour.

After opening with rounds of 68, 71 and 67 to take a two-stroke lead into
the final round, Tseng birdied the par-3 second and reached 14 under with
birdies on the par-5 sixth and par-4 seventh and eighth holes.

She parred the next seven holes, birdied the par-3 16th, increased her lead
to four strokes with a par on the par-4 17th and birdied the par-5 18th.

“I could feel victory at the 18th hole, especially with so many fans
yelling ‘go, go,”’ Tseng said.

Yang finished with a 67, and Munoz had a 68.

American Morgan Pressel shot a 65—the best round of the week in the
inaugural tournament, to tie for fourth with Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist (71) at 9
under.

Tseng, who grew up playing golf in this region, asked fans not to take
pictures during her swing following her second round 71.