Shanshan Feng holds off Ai Suzuku to win TOTO Japan Classic by two shots
Sunday 5 November 2017 12:55, UK
Shanshan Feng became the first player to defend a title on the LPGA Tour in 2017 with victory in the TOTO Japan Classic.
Feng secured a two-shot win over Japan's Ai Suzuki, while England's Charley Hull dropped out of the top 10 after carding her worst round of the tournament in Ibaraki.
Hull had moved into a tie for third on Saturday when she shot 64, but her closing effort of 71 was only enough to see her finish in a tie for 12th, eight shots off the eventual winner.
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Feng had an up-and-down start to the day, making two birdies and two bogeys in her first four holes, but she settled down after that and would not drop another shot in the rest of her round.
Back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th helped her open up a three-stroke lead, but she needed all of those as Suzuki proved a constant threat until the last hole.
Suzuki was only one shot back heading to the final tee, but she made a rare error and dropped a shot to hand the title to Feng by two.
Third place went to Sweden's Anna Nordqvist, who was also able to celebrate a hole-in-one on the third hole on her way to a superb closing 66 that left her four adrift of the winner.
"That was my goal, before I started the week, to defend my title," said Feng.
"My caddie told me: 'This week, you're going to be first. Two weeks ago, you finished third. Last week, you finished second, so you know what comes after that. first.' I was like, OK, let's go for it.
"Before I started the round, I told myself to not look at the other scores and just go to 21-under par. I played very well."
