China's Ye Liying captured her second consecutive Orient Masters Tour victory on Saturday when she closed with a one-under-par 71 for a wire-to-wire win at the 50,000 U.S. dollars Wuhan leg in the Hubei provincial capital.
The 29-year-old Fujian native, winner of the Orient Masters Qingdao last month, carded a 54-hole aggregate score of 214 over the par-72 Wenzhou Orient Country Club layout to finish three strokes ahead of Tsai Pei-ying of Chinese Taipei (73). The victory was worth 7,500 U.S. dollars.
Veteran He Hongling finished third after closing with a tournament low 68, while a strong group of Thais Tiranan Yoopan (73), Pornanong Phatlum (74) and Porani Chutchai (75) tied for equal fourth eight shots off the pace.
Chinese Taipei's amateur Yao Hsuan-yu who started the final round in third, ballooned to a 78 and had to settle for seventh place, while Chinese mainland stalwarts Yang Taoli (79) and Yang Hongmei (77) were ninth and equal 10th respectively in the fourth leg of the Orient Masters Tour which wraps up on December 12-14 with the third annual Orient China Ladies' Open in Xiamen.
The Shanghai-based Ye, who lost in a second-hole playoff to star golfer Annika Sorenstam earlier this month at the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open, said her game was coming around at the right time and she was looking forward to next month's national championship in her home province.
"This was the first time an international golf competition had come to Wuhan so I'm very happy be the first winner. It's a historical victory. This is my fourth win this year. I am very excited."
Despite an erratic finish that featured four birdies against three bogeys, Ye credited a putting tip she had received for holding it together in the final round.
"Today, I felt very peaceful, maybe most peaceful among the whole week. My putting improved today. Yesterday, my friend was watching video of me through portal sina.com and he thought my head position was not right when I was putting and called me. Today I paid much attention to it and it worked very well."
Ye, who passed the second stage of the Japan LPGA Qualifying School in eighth place before coming to Wuhan, had high praise for her playing partner Tsai and Yao, saying the Chinese Taipei teens had a great future in the game.
"The two school girls were excellent, especially Pei-ying. Pei-ying is very consistent and doesn't seem her age. She has a great potential. Many people told me that I ought to beat the two junior players, or it's a shame. This is different pressure from Suzhou in which Annika beat me in the second extra hole. I thought there was no disappointment if I tried my best."
Tsai, who was making her second appearance on the Orient Masters Tour, said she was happy with her performance but couldn't get any momentum going in her final round that featured a lone birdie on the second hole against two bogeys.
"It's a pity that I have no trophy, just flower. But I am very happy, it's a great achievement for me. Next stop, I will try to win my trophy," she said.
"This year, I was a runner-up in the China Amateur Tour Changchun Leg. It's very different. I feel sad to lose in an amateur tournament. But in finishing runner-up in an Orient Masters event it shows that my playing level is not far from the the professionals. This week I was only one-over par for three rounds. I will turn pro when I am under par for the whole week."
Following are the Orient Masters Wuhan final round scores (Chinese mainland players unless stated):
214 Ye Liying 70-73-71
217 Tsai Pei-ying (A) (Chinese Taipei ) 71-73-73
220 He Hongling 77-75-68
222 Porani Chutchai (Thailand) 78-75-69
222 Pornanong Phatlum (Thailand) 78-70-74
222 Tiranan Yoopan (Thailand) 76-73-73
224 Yao Hsuan-yu (A) (Chinese Taipei) 73-73-78
225 Narisara Kerdrit (Thailand) 72-75-78
226 Yang Taoli 71-76-79
227 Cheng Xiaojin 75-73-79
227 Yang Hongmei 76-74-77
227 Wei Xiaorong 75-76-76
228 Tan Lingling 76-77-75
228 Chang Ching-yun (Chinese Taipei) 77-76-75
228 Hsieh Yu-ling (A) (Chinese Taipei) 79-77-72
228 Yang Jincui 77-75-76
228 Yan Panpan 74-79-75
228 Zhang Lichun 74-77-77
229 Lu Kwan-chih (Chinese Taipei) 76-76-77
229 Shen Yanhua 75-77-77
230 Wu Honglian 75-79-76
230 Rungthiwa Pangjun (Thailand) 73-79-78
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2008)