With only two tournaments played, Ai Miyazato has crowned the Ladies European Tour (LET) season as the number one in the list of earnings. The Asian player won the Evian Masters and made a lukewarm showing at the Women’s British Open. Her leap to the top of the money list was due to the Evian Masters’ hefty prize purse, which highlighted the rickety nature of the other LET tournaments, as the Japanese star pocketed $487,500 for her victory, easily surpassing England’s Melissa Reid and Sweden’s Carolina Hedwall, second and third respectively in the final European rankings of 2011.
Reid has won twice in the 19 tournaments he has played this year on the LET, while Hedwall has four wins in his 20 tournaments. “To be honest, I have mixed feelings because I’m receiving the award and I’ve only won one tournament on the LET,” Miyazato said. “But I’ve never won the money title on any tour, so I’m very happy.”
Miyazato has managed to become number one on the tour because the LET does not require a minimum number of tournaments to become a member, a requirement that is mandatory on the men’s major tours. The current number one in the world ranking, China’s Yani Tseng, decided not to become a member of the LET this year, which would have meant her becoming number one on the Tour. Not surprisingly, Tseng won four of the five tournaments she played on the LET. Tseng won the Australian Open and the Australian Masters earlier this year. He won the British Open at Carnoustie for the second consecutive time, and then went on to win the China Open. Had she been a member of the LET, she would have been number one in earnings by a difference of about $160,000 over Miyazato. Tseng was number one in earnings this year on the American Tour, the LPGA Tour, with $2.9 million, more than the next two players combined.
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