ALTOMARE HITS LOFTY HEIGHTS AT EVIAN

What a three-week span it has been for Brittany Altomare. The 26-year-old from Shrewsbury, Mass., finished tied for third at the Cambia Portland Classic two weeks ago, but traveled to Evian fresh off a missed cut at last week’s Indy Women in Tech Championship presented by Guggenheim.

This week at Evian, Altomare announced her name to the golf world. She bested that T3 finish with a runner-up showing here at Evian, reaching the playoff with Anna Nordqvist but double bogeying the first playoff hole. However, Altomare took nothing but positives from this experience in the French Alps.

“It’s really big,” said Altomare of her breakthrough performance this week. “I had a good week in Portland, and I felt good that tournament and I felt like I could now start getting some good finishes. It’s all just about finishing up your rounds or tournaments and I feel I’m starting to do that.”

Altomare entered Sunday’s final round five strokes behind then-leader Moriya Jutanugarn. The University of Virginia graduate calmly reeled off a 5-under 66, tied for the second-lowest round of her career, to sneak into the playoff. She pointed to the end of her second round, where she birdied five of the last six holes, as the starting point of her success.

“I just wanted to try and hit fairways and greens today and make some birdies,” said Altomare. “I finished my round off really well yesterday. I think I had like five birdies maybe coming in or something. So I just kind of tried to keep that momentum, and I started hitting the ball really well today, and I gave myself a bunch of chances and I just made some putts.”

OH SO CLOSE FOR MO JUTANUGARN

Sunday turned into yet another close call for Moriya Jutanugarn, who entered the final round with the lead but ultimately stumbled to a tie for third. Jutanugarn went to the 72nd hole at -9, with Anna Nordqvist and Brittany Altomare already in the clubhouse at that score, but her approach flew over the green and she failed to chip in for par, dropping heartbreakingly out of the playoff.

As always, the 23-year-old from Thailand was unendingly positive after her round.

“What I learned this week, you know, is (to) play in the last group in a major event is great,” said Jutanugarn, who earned the eighth top-five finish of her career. “I think I learned to be a lot patient, just how I can relax on the golf course and just have fun with the game and just be myself and play my game.”

Little sister Ariya, already a major champion, walked all 18 holes with big sister Moriya, serving as an ever-present source of support. Her advice? “Just go out and enjoy it, play your game and whatever is going to happen is going to happen,” said Moriya.

#AIWILLMISSYOU – MIYAZATO RETIRES FROM THE LPGA TOUR

The moment so many people were dreading finally arrived. With a par putt at No. 18, former World No. 1 Ai Miyazatofinished her LPGA career.

Surrounded by fellow players Paula Creamer, Pernilla Lindberg and Yani Tseng, not to mention the adoring fans surrounding 18, tears flowed from Miyazato’s eyes as she accepted flowers from golfing legend Gary Player and Evian President Franck Riboud.

“I thought I’m going to cry if I saw all my friends behind the 18th green, so I tried not to see them because I just want to finish with a par on the last hole,” said Miyazato. “The 18th hole is such a good finishing hole and a good, challenging hole. I just wanted to play my best as a player. But it was really nice to see my friends, definitely, and I just couldn’t hold it. After I made the putt, I was just really happy. It’s so nice to have my friends on the Tour.”

Friends has been a constant refrain for Miyazato this week. So many players went out of their way to find Miyazato today and give her warm embraces. Japanese television even sent along a special video for Ai, with several JLPGA players sending their words of love and congratulations.

So what’s next for Miyazato? Right now, a whole lot of nothing.

“Staying home!” said Miyazato with a great laugh. “I think maybe just having a normal life. Just seeing my friends every day maybe and having a dinner, and just talks about nothing maybe. That’s what I’m expecting right now. So I can’t wait.”

ROLEX ANNIKA MAJOR AWARD GOES TO SO YEON RYU

The Rolex ANNIKA Major Award is given annually at The Evian Championship to recognize the player who, during a current LPGA Tour season, has the most outstanding record in all five major championships and has won at least one of the titles. Last year, Lydia Ko joined Michelle Wie (2014) and Inbee Park (2015) as winners of the award.

ANA Inspiration winner So Yeon Ryu captured the 2017 Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, leading the standings with 78 points, and received the trophy from its namesake Annika Sorenstam on the 18th green at Evian. Ryu was followed by Evian winner Anna Nordqvist (68 points) and Ricoh Women’s British Open winner In-Kyung Kim (62 points). KPMG winner Danielle Kang and U.S. Women’s Open winner Sung Hyun Park round out the top five with 60 points apiece.

QUICK HITS

This is the first playoff win of Anna Nordqvist’s career; she lost a playoff at the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open to Brittany Lang
Nordqvist came back from five strokes to win, the largest comeback in Evian history
Nordqvist joins Suzann Pettersen as the only European winners of The Evian Championship, and she is the first European to win a major championship since Pettersen won this event in 2013
Nordqvist is one of five players with multiple wins on Tour this season, joining In-Kyung Kim (three), Sung Hyun Park (two), So Yeon Ryu (two), and Lexi Thompson (two)
Nordqvist is the only European player to win on Tour this season

CME GROUP CARES WEEKENDS EAGLES UPDATE

CME Group Cares Weekend is a season-long charitable giving program that turns eagles into donations. For each eagle recorded during weekend play (Saturday and Sunday) throughout the 2017 LPGA Tour season, CME Group donates $1,000 to the program’s total donation count. The money raised will go towards a charitable pool and be split evenly between Wounded Warrior Project® and Bright Pink®.

Players scored six eagles over the weekend at the 2017 Evian Championship, raising another $6,000 for charity. This brings the total to 244 eagles on the year, which translates to $244,000 raised. Twenty-seven of the 244 weekend eagles were recorded in LPGA Tour major championships, with two coming today from Anna Nordqvist.

Close Call for Mo, New Heights for Altomare and More from Evian

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