Michelle Wie Claims Wire-To-Wire Win at 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open

Winnipeg (Golf Canada) - Michelle Wie shot a final-round 70 to win the 2010 CN Canadian Women's Open at St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg. Finishing at 12-under-par 276, Wie held off a star-studded cast including defending champion Suzann Pettersen, Jiyai Shin, Kristy McPherson and Jee Young Lee.

The victory is the second of the 20-year old's LPGA career and the first of the 2010 LPGA season. Wie's previous best finish in 2010 was third at the Tres Marias Championship. 

Wie entered Sunday's final-round tied with Jiyai Shin at 10-under par. After recording a bogey at the par-four fourth, Wie took control of the tournament with consistent play and a confident demeanor that was aided by three consecutive birdies on the back-nine.

"It feels awesome, absolutely fantastic," said Wie. "You know, it's been a long time since November, my last win."

A birdie putt at 13 and a chip-in from a tough lie for birdie on 15 propelled her to the three-stroke win. Her two-under par round consisted of three bogeys and five birdies including her second chip-in of the tournament at the par-3 15th. 

With this victory, Michelle Wie earns (U.S) $337,500 and is projected to jump to seventh in the Rolex Rankings.

"I feel like I haven't been playing as well as I wanted to the last couple of months, and this makes me more motivated for the rest of the season," added Wie. "The hole-in-one helped a lot. Overall, it was a great week."

Ai Miyazato is projected to be Rolex Rankings No. 1 on Monday morning when the rankings are released.  Miyazato, winner of last week's Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola, finished the week in a tie for 15th at 4-under-par.

Suzann Pettersen is still in search of her first 2010 LPGA victory, but has knocked on the door several times. Pettersen has recorded six top-3 finishes on the year and eight top fives. She earned runner up finishes at the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand, Kraft Nabisco Championship, Bell Micro LPGA Classic and CN Canadian Women's Open and tied for second at the U.S. Women's Open and Evian Masters Presented by Société Générale. 

Lorie Kane went out in style at this year's CN Canadian Women's Open as she posted a five-under par 67 in Sunday's final round. Kane finished the tournament at 5-under par in a tie for 11th. Canada was behind her the entire week and local fans came out to support her in swarms. 

"It doesn't matter, win, lose or draw I had the support of the Canadian fans," said Kane. "That means a lot to me." 

Fellow Canadians, Adrienne White and Lisa Meldrum, finished tied for 54th and 60th respectively.

Australian Rachel Hetherington, an eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour, retired from the LPGA following the final round of the CN Canadian Women's Open. The 38-year-old earned over $5.7 million in 14 years on the LPGA.

"I'm very happy," she said. "I was very fortunate to play golf, traveled to a lot of countries, made a lot of friends, learned a lot.  The reality is that I just don't want to work as hard as I need to.  I'll enjoy doing other things."

THE FOLLOWING ARE FINAL CANADIAN SCORES FOR SUNDAY, AUGUST 29TH, 2010:

T11 - Lorie Kane - 75-73-68-67-233, - 5
T54 - Adrienne White - 77-68-75-73-293, +5
T60 - Lisa Meldrum - 77-70-71-76-294, +6
--- MISSED CUT ---
Samantha Richdale - 77-72-149, +5
Kirby Dreher - 78-72-150, +6
(a) Sara-Maude Juneau - 77-74-151, +7
(a) Jennifer Kirby - 78-74-152, +8
Sue Kim - 74-79-153, +9
Jessica Shepley - 76-77-153, +9
Stephanie Sherlock - 80-74-154, +10
Alena Sharp - 76-79-155, +11
Seema Sadekar - 73-83-156, +12
(a) Rebecca Lee-Bentham - 75-82-157, +13
(a) Christine Wong - 84-81-165, +21