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Tuesday, 21 May, 2002, 11:52 GMT 12:52 UK
Moodie takes world by storm
Janice Moodie took her second title in the USA
Scotland's Janice Moodie went a long way to firmly establishing herself as Britain's top women golfer as she swept aside the world's best to win the $1.5m Asahi Ryokuken International Championship by seven strokes.
And it was perhaps significant that it was Laura Davies, for so long the standard-bearer for British women's golf, who was pushed into second spot. World number one Annika Sorenstam also failed to make an impression on Moodie during a final day when the Scot stretched her lead to record the most decisive win on the tour since Karrie Webb's eight-shot victory nearly a year ago at the US Women's Open.
Victory and a cheque for £187,000 pushed Moodie into seventh on the season's LPGA money list, eight places ahead of Davies.
After finishing the third round of the rain-plagued event on Sunday morning, Moodie carded a two-under-par 70 to finish on a 15-under-par total of 273 over the Mount Vintage Plantation course in North Augusta. "I put it in the right places on the green to allow myself to get some birdies and stayed very focused out there," Moodie said. "Annika and Laura are such great players and they could have come back very easily. "Believe me, I liked the cushion. Once I got there, I kind of knew I had to keep holding on. "If I was making pars, they had to make birdies to get me."
"He's finally making an honest woman out of me," Moodie joked. "It has only taken five years." Moodie's only other LPGA title came two years ago at Northfield, New Jersey. Despite a consistent season last year, she had not placed better than 12th in eight previous starts in 2002. So she was never comfortable, no matter how large her lead over Sorenstam and Davies.
But Davies, who finished with a 73, said: "Janice just wasn't making mistakes. She played very well.
"I felt 10 onwards, once I bogeyed 10, I was fighting Annika for second place. "Credit to Janice, she didn't give us a chance. Two decent players chasing her and she never looked back. "She just went forward. We both did exactly what we had to do. She responded." The English star began the day thinking that she would need a 65 to challenge Moodie but later admitted: "I don't really think 65 would have been enough, she would have stepped up and got one more herself." Sorenstam finished equal third with American Rosie Jones, one stroke behind Davies, while Moodie's fellow Scot, Catriona Matthew, ended with a disappointing 74 to finish equal sixth on 284. Matthew is now 21st on the money list.
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