Tseng beats Wie by one in close finish in Arkansas

Tseng beats Wie by one in close finish in Arkansas

Yani Tseng collected five birdies on the back nine, including one on the final hole Sunday, to fend off Michelle Wie and win the NW Arkansas Championship.

Tseng closed with a 6-under 65 to finish her fifth LPGA Tour title at 13-under-par 200.

“It’s always pretty good to come from behind. I missed the cut the last tournament and then I won this tournament,” said Tseng, who has won four of her five LPGA Tour titles in come-from-behind fashion. “It means so much to me, seems like I really prepared for this tournament.”

Tseng’s total of 200 betters the event’s scoring record by one stroke and she collected the $300,000 US first prize. Seon Hwa Lee posted 201 when she won in 2008.

Wie got up and down for birdie at the 18th to force Tseng to make her birdie for the win. Wie closed with a 2-under 69 to finish one back at minus-12.

Mika Miyazato fired a 7-under 64 to take third place at 10-under-par 203.

Both Canadians struggled in the final round. Calgary’s Samantha Richdale came into the final 18 holes tied for 12th place, but shot a 4-over 75 Sunday and finished in a tie for 41st at 214. She collected $8,985. Montreal’s Lisa Meldrum won $3,992 after shooting a 76 Sunday and finishing in tie for 70th at 218.

Trailing by two with two holes to go, Wie converted a six-foot birdie effort on the 17th to get within one.

At the par-five 18th, Tseng found the right fringe with her second, while Wie pulled her approach left of the green. Wie pitched to five feet.

Tseng rolled her eagle effort inside three feet. Wie drained her birdie putt to tie Tseng at minus-12. But Tseng kicked in her short birdie effort for the victory.

It was a pep talk she gave herself at the turn that did the trick for Tseng.

“After nine holes, I felt like my heart was not fighting, I didn’t feel like I really wanted to win this tournament,” she admitted. “So after nine holes, I just wrote a lot of things on my yardage book, like, ’I can do this.’ Just feel like you really, really want to win this tournament.”

It worked for Tseng and denied Wie her second victory of the season.

“Yani played great. Usually, if you’re 12-under, it’s good enough,” Wie said. “But I played good today. I had faith in myself, a couple irons shots went a little bit left today. Overall, I hung in there, made a lot of good putts. I just was a little short.”

Wie and Tseng were paired together with Juli Inkster in the final group. Wie parred the first five holes before stumbling to a bogey on sixth. That created a tie for the lead with Inkster, who fell down the leaderboard with bogeys on seven and eight.

The 20-year-old Wie erased her bogey on the sixth with a birdie on No. 7. She parred three straight around the turn before moving to 11-under with a birdie on the 11th.

Wie was two clear of Tseng at that point, but Tseng was starting to heat up.

Tseng birdied the first and fifth before a bogey at six. She dropped in back- to-back birdies from the 11th to get within one of Wie’s lead. Tseng joined Wie atop the leaderboard with a birdie on the 14th.

The 20-year-old Tseng dropped her tee shot within six feet at the par-3 15th. She drained that putt to take the lead and setup the exciting finish.

Inbee Park fired a six-under 65 to end alone in fourth place at 8-under- par 205.

Bolstered by a hole-in-one on the par-three 11th, In-Kyung Kim closed with a 65 to share fourth place with world No. 3 Jiyai Shin (66), Kristy McPherson (68) and Lee (69) at minus-7.