Suzann Pettersen of Norway birdied two of the last three holes to shoot 3-under-par 69 and beat Brittany Lang by one stroke in windy conditions in the Manulife LPGA Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
The 34-year-old Pettersen hit a bunker shot to within two feet to set up a birdie on the 16th hole and sank an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 17 before making a two-putt from long distance for par on the final hole.
That came after she holed a 25-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 12th hole, but followed that with a bogey at No. 13.
“I felt I played some really good golf this week,” said Pettersen, who was bogey-free through the first three rounds en route to her 15th LPGA Tour victory, but first since the 2013 Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship.
“I was pretty flawless through three rounds and broke that effort pretty quickly with a couple of bogeys (in the final round), but I managed to get my head together and play some good golf. I played aggressive and it was a good day on the golf course.”
Lang, whose only LPGA victory came in the 2012 Manulife Classic, birdied three of her last holes to finish off a 65 and was hoping for at least a playoff before Pettersen’s clutch finish.
Mariajo Uribe of Colombia, a two-time All-American at UCLA bidding for her first victory on the LPGA Tour, closed with a 72 and was four shots back in solo third.
Minjee Lee of Australia posted a bogey-free 67 and wound up six strokes behind in a tie for fourth with 17-time LPGA Tour winner Cristie Kerr, who struggled to a 73, Jacqui Concolino, who totaled 69, and So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, who also came in at 69.
Second-ranked Inbee Park of South Korea tied for 11th after a 68 and No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand tied for 27th following a 71.
