Yani Tseng participated in a traditional celebration Sunday after she won the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship.
ROGERS, Arkansas (AP)—Top-ranked Yani Tseng successfully defended her title inthe LPGA Tour’s NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday, beating Amy Yang with a4-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff.
Yang missed a 6-foot birdie try before Tseng holed the winning putt on thepar-5 18th.
Both players closed with 3-under 68s to finish at 12-under 201 on thePinnacle Country Club course.
Yang parred the final 11 holes of regulation, holing a 4 1/2 -foot putt on the18th to force the playoff.
Tseng bogeyed the par-4 13th to drop to 10 under, then sank birdies on thepar-5 14th and par-4 16th—holing an 8-foot putt to tie Yang.
On the 18th in regulation, Yang aggressively went for the green in twoshots, but hit her approach shot way left of the greenside grandstands beforechipping on and saving par. Tseng reached the green in three shots and had achance to win, but missed a 4-foot birdie putt.
The 22-year-old Tseng leads the tour with five victories this season,including major wins in the LPGA Championship and Women’s British Open.
Ai Miyazato (66) was third at 11 under. Cristie Kerr (68) was another strokeback.
