Ai Miyazato won the Evian Masters on Sunday, shooting a 2-under 70 to protect her two-shot lead and clinch her first title of the year.
Miyazato played with consistency throughout the tournament, dropping shots on just five of the 72 holes overall and finishing with a 15-under total of 273. Stacy Lewis of the United States also shot a 70 to finish two shots back in second, with a trio of players another stroke behind.
Miyazato had not won a title since the Safeway Classic last August, and the 26-year-old Japanese now has seven LPGA titles overall. She won her first LPGA title at Evian in 2009, and added five more last year.
Miyazato raised both arms in the air after she sank her winning putt, and several players ran on to the green to soak her with water.
Lewis, the Kraft Nabisco winner, kept the pressure on and moved one shot behind Miyazato with a birdie on the 15th.
Then, with a birdie chance to level the match on the next hole, Lewis three-putted for a bogey to be two adrift of Miyazato again, her chances slipping away.
Lewis had been self-critical after all her previous three rounds, saying she lacked a cutting edge in the last few holes of the day.
That again proved to be the case, with Lewis' putt for birdie on the 17th stopping agonizingly short. She could only make par on the 18th, a hole made for attacking.
Miki Saiki of Japan, Angela Stanford of the United States, and South Korea's I.K. Kim all finished three shots behind Miyazato on 276.
Kim had moved into contention at 10 under following a brilliant third round of 64, but the South Korean's bid was undone by three straight bogeys on the front nine Sunday.
