Aye, Ai

ROGERS — The LPGA NW Arkansas Championship came down to experience.

None of the players on the leaderboard could match Ai Miyazato in that regard. Miyazato showed her veteran poise and big-money skills by sinking a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the tournament title and $300,000 on Sunday at Pinnacle Country Club.

Miyazato, 27, moved from No. 6 to No. 3 in the Rolex World Rankings behind No. 1 Yani Tseng and former Arkansas Razorback Stacy Lewis.

But Miyazato vaulted past Tseng, who did not make the cut this week, and Lewis, who finished in a tie for 19th, to No. 1 on the LPGA money list with $1,035,727.

Lewis, who shot a final round 70, is third on the money list after earning $22,910 for a $929,209 total.

Miyazato finished at 12-under 201 but had to wait until fellow Japanese golfer and good friend Mika Miyazato missed a 20-foot birdie putt on 18th that would have sent the two Miyazatos into a sudden-death playoff. Mika Miyazato, who is not related to Ai Miyazato,playoff. Mika Miyazato, who is not related to Ai Miyazato, missed the putt to finish at 11-under 202, in a tie for second with Spaniard Azahara Munoz to earn $159,739.

Second-round leader Veronica Felibert, like Mika Miyazato trying to win her first LPGA event, finished tied for third with Inbee Park.

Ai Miyazato’s winning putt capped a round of 6-under 65 that allowed her to jump from a five-way tie for fourth entering the final round. Miyazato, formerly the No. 1 player in the world, won her second tournament of the year and the ninth of her career and pushed her career earnings to more than $6 million.

Nowhere was Ai Miyazato’s experience more noticeable than her recovery from a bogey on the Par-3 17th that dropped her back into a tie with Mika Miyazato, playing in the final group, and Munoz, who had finished several groups ahead. Ai Miyazato shrugged off the blemish - her only bogey of the round - and hit her approach shot to the fringe of the 18th’s Par-5 green and then chipped close for a relatively simple putt.

“I wasn’t really feeling pressure towards the end,” said Ai Miyazato, when asked how much her experience helped. “I know I made a bogey on 17 but afterwards, in like three seconds, I was able to back in myself. My mental was really calm.

“I handled myself really well until the last shot, so I think the last eight winning has definitely helped.”

Tour rookie Felibert entered the final day with a four-stroke lead over Mika Miyazato and Park but couldn’t maintain her strong play from the first two rounds. Felibert, a Venezuelan playing in her fifth LPGA tournament, made 12 birdies against one bogey in her first two rounds but made five bogeys Sunday.

Felibert managed to hang close to the lead until a crushing bogey on the 17th hole dropped her three behind Ai Miyazato, whose birdie putt fell just before Felibert’s par attempt didn’t. Felibert made birdie on 18 to finish with a 1-over 72 to tie for third at 10-over 203.

The consolation for Felibert was a payday of $93,770, quite an increase from her career earnings of $2,489.

“I didn’t play the way I wanted,” said Felibert, whose sister Valentina played at Arkansas-Little Rock in the mid-2000s. “I didn’t feel nervous at all, I was surprised. I thought I was going to be more nervous, but my swing wasn’t there and I didn’t try to fight it.

“I just played with what I got, and it wasn’t enough.”

Ai Miyazato said she didn’t think she had a chance to catch Felibert at the start of the day because the Venezuelan had played so well the first two days. But Miyazato made four front-nine birdies while Felibert’s struggles made the tournament a five-player race.

“I knew I needed to make a lot of birdies, but like I said, I didn’t have any expectation and I didn’t have any pressure on the front nine,” Miyazato said. “Then I realized I had a chance but try not to think that way just like I did on the front nine.”

It was a disappointing finish for Mika Miyazato, whose approach shot on the 18th put her in position to win her first event. She has finished in the top three of her last three LPGA events.

NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIPAt Pinnacle Country Club Rogers, Ark.

Par 71, 6,356 yards, Purse: $2 million Final Round 201 (-12) $300,000 Ai Miyazato ....................68-68-65 202 (-11) $159,739 Azahara Munoz .............69-68-65 Mika Miyazato ...............70-65-67 203 (-10) $93,770 Inbee Park .....................67-68-68 Veronica Felibert ...........65-66-72 204 (-9) $68,427 Hee Kyung Seo .............73-65-66 205 (-8) $57,276 Amy Yang ......................72-68-65 206 (-7) $47,646 Anna Nordqvist .............68-70-68 Brittany Lang .................73-63-70 207 (-6) $36,950 Jenny Shin ....................69-71-67 Sarah Jane Smith .........71-68-68 Catriona Matthew ..........69-68-70 So Yeon Ryu .................70-67-70 208 (-5) $27,979 Giulia Sergas .................73-68-67 Sun Young Yoo .............70-71-67 Mo Martin .....................70-70-68 Suzann Pettersen ..........70-69-69 Jennifer Rosales ...........70-69-69 209 (-4) $22,910 Stacy Lewis ..............70-69-70 Kyeong Bae ...................70-69-70 Shanshan Feng .............66-70-73 Katie Futcher .................69-67-73 210 (-3) $19,383 Sandra Gal .....................70-70-70 Danielle Kang ................72-68-70 Angela Stanford ............71-69-70 Na Yeon Choi ................70-69-71 Karine Icher ...................67-72-71 211 (-2) $15,028 Jodi Ewart .....................73-70-68 Cindy LaCrosse .............72-71-68 Paula Creamer ...............71-71-69 Beatriz Recari ................72-69-70 Beth Bader .....................69-71-71 Julieta Granada .............71-69-71 Katherine Hull ................70-70-71 Lizette Salas ..................73-67-71 212 (-1) $11,035 Jessica Korda ................69-74-69Maude-Aimee Leblanc ..73-70-69 Sophie Gustafson .........71-71-70 Nicole Hage ...................72-70-70 Mi Jung Hur ..................67-74-71 Jin Young Pak ...............72-66-74 Momoko Ueda ..............70-68-74 213 (E) $7,645 Lisa Ferrero ...................77-66-70 Jennie Lee .....................71-72-70 Becky Morgan ...............70-73-70 Brittany Lincicome ........71-71-71 Lexi Thompson .............71-70-72 Candie Kung ..................71-69-73 Reilley Rankin ...............72-68-73 Meena Lee .....................71-68-74 Tiffany Joh ....................71-67-75 Gerina Piller ...................70-67-76 Dewi Claire Schreefel ....72-65-76 Ryann O’Toole ...............68-68-77 214 (+1) $5,489 Laura Diaz .....................69-74-71Natalie Gulbis ................76-67-71 Danah Bordner ..............74-68-72 Ji Young Oh ..................69-73-72 Christel Boeljon .............71-70-73 Lorie Kane .....................72-69-73 Karin Sjodin ...................71-69-74 215 (+2) $4,714 Paige Mackenzie ...........72-71-72 Cydney Clanton .............73-68-74 Numa Gulyanamitta ......72-69-74 Jimin Kang ....................71-69-75 216 (+3) $4,359 Alena Sharp ...................76-67-73 Wendy Doolan ...............73-69-74 Hee Young Park ............74-66-76 217 (+4) $4,072 Maria Hernandez ...........75-68-74 Moira Dunn ...................71-71-75 Yuki Sakurai ..................69-73-75 219 (+6) $3,953 Victoria Tanco ...............70-73-76