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Ai Miyazato, 69-66-70-69=274 (-14)
Scorecard: Hole 2, 161-yard par 3: birdie – 8-iron from 130 yards to eight feet
Hole 6, 380-yard par 4: bogey – 52-degree wedge from 99 yards, chip to eight feet, missed the putt
Hole 8, 174-yard par 3: birdie – 6-iron from five feet
Hole 9, 482-yard par 5: birdie – 3-wood short, chip to an inch
Hole 11, 351-yard par 4: birdie – 8-iron from 130 yards to 35 feet left of the hole
Hole 15, 559-yard par 5: bogey – fairway wood to the back of the bunker, chip to five feet, two putt
Hole 18, 477-yard par 5: birdie – 52-degree wedge from 96 yards to 10 feet
Playoff one – Hole 18, 477-yard par 5: birdie – 4-rescue into the right greenside bunker, chip to three feet
DANA GROSS RHODE: Ai, welcome to the interview tent. You’re now the champion of the Evian Masters presented by Société Générale.
It was a playoff win. It was exciting. You’ve been on tour for four years. You’re a Rolex first time winner. What are your thoughts right now? Are you feeling anything, or is it all just overwhelming.
AI MIYAZATO: I feel very happy at the moment. I was dreaming about this when I was young, so my dream has almost come true. I feel great.
DANA GROSS RHODE: What does it mean to win this tournament in France with a strong field? You said it was special for you to win here.
AI MIYAZATO: Well, I had a pressure because of the chance to get the win, but it was really comfortable and I could control myself all the time today.
(via translator) I feel I have grown about my golf.
DANA GROSS RHODE: Talk about today, about how the course progressed. The round was a little up and down, but you played strong through it.
AI MIYAZATO: I made a great birdie on the number two, and I feel really like confidence after that. So, I mean, I was really play good because I hit fairways, keep hitting the fairways, and I hit the greens.
But I had so many good birdie chance too, but I couldn’t make it. That makes me really pressure on myself. But I’m just trying to make me like really calm and stay in the present. That really worked.
DANA GROSS RHODE: This is the first playoff you’ve been in on the LPGA Tour.
AI MIYAZATO: Yes.
DANA GROSS RHODE: Is that any different than in the past, or did you draw on your experience?
AI MIYAZATO: It was different. It was totally different. Just trying to focus my game and trying to hit the fairways and the greens again.
(via translator) Well, I just knew I had to make a lot of birdies. And, you know, after making those birdies, if I end up not winning I could accept that. So that was okay.
Q. You’ve been runner up a couple times. What does that mean to be here and to have done this?
AI MIYAZATO: (via translator) I went through a lot of tough times especially the last couple years. But Mic, my caddie, stood by me the whole time. We grew together as a team, and I’m really happy that we kept it going.
Q. There were a lot expectations about you the last five years, and you didn’t manage to win a tournament. Is that a relief today?
AI MIYAZATO: (via translator) It was obviously a relief, but I do also feel a sense of accomplishment that I achieved this great win.
But also just so many things going through my head at the moment.
Q. How much of an honor is it for you, knowing that Hiromi Kobayashi won here 12 years ago, and now you won here?
AI MIYAZATO: (via translator) Every time I walk up the stairs to the locker room, even more so than the last few years, I tend to see her scorecard a lot this year. Caught my eyes.
You know, when I saw it I want to achieve what she achieved. I respect her a lot, and I feel very proud as another Japanese player to have done the same.
Q. She also won on the first sudden death hole, as you did.
AI MIYAZATO: She did?
Q. Yes. It is destiny?
AI MIYAZATO: Oh, wow, thank you. I didn’t know that.
Q. You’ve had so many victories in Japan. How do you explain that it took you five years on the LPGA Tour to win a tournament?
AI MIYAZATO: (via translator) When I had a good success in Japan I was still very young. I was just going for it, not scared of anything.
When I came to the States, I had to adjust to many things, like the culture, the language. Those things obviously played a huge part.
I don’t think the length of time that it took me to win was that important. I just feel that the four years that took me was very valuable.
DANA GROSS RHODE: What does it mean in Japan for you to have this win?
AI MIYAZATO: (via translator) I have very many fans in Japan, and I want to thank them for their support. I’m happy to give them this win and share this win with them.
I also want to thank my family for their support, because they’ve been standing next to me this whole time. I’ll see them next week, as soon as possible.
I also want to thank all my sponsors as well for all the years they supported me.
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Sophie Gustafson, 71-66-67-70=274 (-14)
Scorecard: Hole 4, 374-yard par 4: bogey – missed the green into the right bunker to five feet, missed putt
Hole 5, 333-yard par 4: birdie – sand wedge to one foot
Hole 9, 482-yard par 5: birdie – 5-iron to 20 feet, two putt
Hole 12, 412-yard par 4: birdie – 9-iron to tap in
Hole 13, 418-yard par 4: bogey – missed the green, chip to three feet, missed the putt
Hole 18, 477-yard par 5: birdie – 6-iron on the green in two to 25 feet, two putt
Playoff one – Hole 18, 477-yard par 5: par – into the right rough off the tee, lay-up, lob wedge to 10 feet; ball landed in a pitch mark, two putt.
Q. A runner-up finish to Ai Miyazato. Can you talk about the round?
SOPHIE GUSTAFSON: I didn’t have my putter going today. I missed four putts within four feet and that’s the difference from the previous two days.
Q. What can you take from this week and use for the upcoming RICOH Women’s British Open and Solheim Cup?
SOPHIE GUSTAFSON: Right now, I’m very disappointed. Right now, I’m not focusing on anything. I need to let this week sink in and go from there.
Cristie Kerr, 70-68-67-70=275 (-13)
Scorecard: Hole 1, 361-yard par 4: bogey – sand wedge, three putt, missed four-foot putt for par
Hole 3, 355-yard par 4: birdie – pitching wedge to 10 feet
Hole 6, 380-yard par 4: bogey – hooked a 5-wood, lay up, chip to 22 feet, two putt
Hole 7, 526-yard par 5: birdie – sand wedge to 15 feet
Hole 8, 174-yard par 3: birdie – 7-iron to eight feet
Hole 11, 351-yard par 4: birdie – pitching wedge to 10 feet
Hole 12, 412-yard par 4: bogey – hooked an 8-iron into left bunker, chip out, tap-in for bogey
Hole 18, 477-yard par 5: birdie – 9-iron to six feet
Q. Two top-three finishes in your last two events. That has to be positive heading into next week’s major (RICOH Women’s British Open)?
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, if I could just find that next gear on Sunday – Sunday’s usually my day. The last couple tournaments just hasn’t been. So just work a little harder. I was hooking the ball really bad the last couple days but I made a lot of birdies today, which saved me. It was huge to birdie the last (hole) because I was kind of making a huge mess of the holes. I hit a great 9-iron.
Q. It is a positive day as your best finish at the Evian Masters.
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, I played great. It doesn’t feel good coming up short the past two weeks, but there’s a lot of golf left this year.
Q. How was the course playing today?
CRISTIE KERR: I thought it played similar. It might have played a little bit tougher with the pins today. Obviously, we’re not seeing the low, low scores today. And it’s Sunday – people tighten up on Sunday. So, that’s how it goes.
Q. You mentioned you made a lot of birdies, which will benefit your charity Birdies for Breast Cancer, which will be affiliated with the announcement of The Cristie Kerr Women’s Health Center.
CRISTIE KERR: It’s pretty cool to get something named after you. It’s great to be in Jersey City where I represent Liberty National Golf Club and they’re in Jersey City and we wanted to have something grassroots in the area and we want to have a long-term event.
Becky Brewerton, 67-68-69-76=280 (-8)
How do you sum up your final round?
Hard work,. It was a different situation. I couldn’t hit a fairway and its hard work when you’re in the rough so much. I left myself an awful lot of long breaking putts and didn’t get the pace as good so that’s made it incredibly hard work.
Were you thinking about it last night?
No. I woke up a few times and I was excited just trying to imagine what it was going to be like. Obviously it was quite different to last week. To have a chance to win such a big event on the last day shows how far I’ve come.
What will you take from this to next week?
A lot of confidence. The week as a whole, I finished eight-under. That was my best score here by quite a long way and even today when things weren’t going well it could have been a lot worse. I kept my head and made some nice putts, especially on the front nine, to keep in it a little bit. It could easily have been different. It’s a good experience.
Did you get nervous at all?
Maybe. I felt pretty relaxed. Obviously something changed because I was struggling to hit the fairways and everything felt a little bit harder.
What happened over those two holes on the back nine?
On 14 I pulled my tee shot left of the green and had a terrible lie and I actually hit a really nice shot down to about six feet but I missed my first putt and the second. I was out of bounds on 15 so it was quite a good six in the end.
When do you travel to the British Open?
I’ll go there tonight and get some work done and get ready for a completely different type of test next week.
Do you like Royal Lytham?
Yes. It will be one of my favourites.
