LPGA’s Miyazato 2 for 2 this season

Ai Miyazato won the HSBC Champions on Sunday in Singapore to become the first LPGA Tour player in 44 years to sweep the first two events of a season, closing with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Cristie Kerr.

Miyazato, the 24-year-old Japanese star who won the LPGA Thailand last week, took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 16th – a hole she played in 5 under for the week – and parred the final two holes to finish at 10 under on Tanah Merah’s Garden Course.

A 15-time winner on the Japanese tour, Miyazato earned $195,000 for her third career LPGA Tour victory, all outside North America. She won the Evian Masters last year in France for her first LPGA Tour title.

Marilynn Smith was last player to win the first two events in a season, accomplishing the feat in 1966. Babe Zaharias (1951), Louise Suggs (1952) and Mickey Wright (1963) also swept season-opening events.

Kerr birdied No. 16 to take the lead at 10 under, but bogeyed the final two holes for a 68.

Wendy Ward had a final-round 73 to finish 12 over par.

PGA Tour

Hunter Mahan won the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., for his second PGA Tour title, coming from four strokes back to beat Rickie Fowler by a shot in a 1-2 finish for former Oklahoma State players.

Mahan, 27, had an eagle and a pair of birdies in a late four-hole span to finish at 16-under 268. Mahan, whose first victory came at the 2007 Travelers Championship, closed with consecutive bogey-free 6-under 65s.

Fowler, just 21 and a tour rookie, had a final-round 68 for the second runner-up finish of his young career.

Y.E. Yang also shot a 65 to finish at 14 under, two off the pace. He led until his tee shot went in the water at No. 17.