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A challenge evolved into an almost impossible task as a gallant Hannah Green settled for second at the LPGA Tour’s DIO Implant LA Open in Los Angeles.
Paired with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in the final group on Sunday at Wilshire Country Club, Green set out to eat into the four-stroke deficit yet was turned away with every charge.
Hataoka extended her lead to five with a birdie at the first, Green responding with birdies of her own at the third and fourth holes to stay within four.
After birdies at four and five Hataoka dropped a shot at the par-4 sixth yet responded with a birdie at the par-3 seventh, going out in three-under 32 to establish a five-stroke buffer.
The tournament front-runners traded pars for the next five holes until Hataoka landed the killer blow with a bomb from the top tier for eagle at the par-5 15th, Green’s birdie actually losing ground to trail by six with three holes to play.
Ultimately finishing five shots shy, a final round of three-under 69 was enough for Green to secure outright second and a projected climb to 15th in the Race to CME Globe standings.
It was a strong finish for 2019 champion Minjee Lee, the West Australian earning a share of third spot with a closing 68 highlighted by three birdies between the 12th and 16th holes.
“To be fair, I’m probably a little disappointed in my performance this week,” Lee reflected.
“I made a lot of bogeys but I did make a lot of birdies, so I guess that’s the good thing.
“Top five, I don’t think I can really be too disappointed, but hopefully better things to come next week.”
Jason Day and Jason Scrivener also began the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans looking to chase down runaway leaders but couldn’t mount a charge in the Sunday foursomes.
The all-Aussie pair shot 73 in the final round to earn a share of 10th spot, seven shots behind winners Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (72) with defending champions Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman (72) tied for 21st.
Weekend rounds of 64-65 elevated Anthony Quayle to his first top-10 finish of the Japan Golf Tour season at the ISPS HANDA Championship while close mate Jake McLeod was the best of the Aussies at the DP World Tour’s ISPS HANDA Championship, tied for 38th in Spain.
Victorian Cameron John earned full status for the first half of the upcoming PGA TOUR Canada season with a tie for fourth at the qualifying tournament in Washington and five Aussies finished top-20 at the Epson Tour’s Copper Rock Championship, Grace Kim, Soo Jin Lee, Gabi Ruffels, Robyn Choi and Hira Naveed all finishing tied for 17th in Utah.
It was another good week also for the Kiwi contingent with Steven Alker missing out in a playoff on the Champions Tour, Amelia Garvey finishing top-five on the Epson Tour, Michael Hendry top 10 in Japan and Ryan Fox tied for 15th in Spain, his first start since winning The Ras Al Khaimah Classic in February.
Results
LPGA Tour
DIO Implant LA Open
Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, California
Winner Nasa Hataoka 67-68-67-67—269 $US225,000
2 Hannah Green 70-67-69-68—274 $138,191
T3 Minjee Lee 70-68-71-68—277 $80,072
MC Katherine Kirk 77-71—148
MC Su Oh 72-78—150
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 78-76—154
PGA TOUR
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
Winners Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele 59-68-60-72—259 $US1,199,350 each
T10 Jason Day /Jason Scrivener 65-65-63-73—266 $191,937 each
T21 Marc Leishman/Cameron Smith 65-68-66-72—271 $24,111 each
MC Lucas Herbert/Arjun Atwal 65-72—137
MC Cameron Percy/Brandon Hagy 67-71—138
MC Danny Lee/Sangmoon Bae 66-72—138
MC Brett Drewitt/Dawie van der Walt 67-79—146
DP World Tour
ISPS HANDA Championship in Spain
Lakes Course, Infinitum, Tarragona, Spain
Winner Pablo Larrazabal 67-68-68-62—265 €313,467
T15 Ryan Fox 69-69-69-67—274 €23,625
T38 Jake McLeod 66-71-73-67—277 €10,510
T56 Wade Ormsby 68-70-71-71—280 €5,439
MC Maverick Antcliff 73-68—141
MC Scott Hend 73-69—142
MC Zach Murray 74-70—144
Japan Golf Tour
ISPS HANDA Championship
PGM Ishioka Golf Club, Omitama
Winner Yuto Katsuragawa 67-63-65-65—260 ¥20m
T6 Anthony Quayle 67-69-64-65—265 ¥3,192,500
T10 Michael Hendry 66-66-69-65—266 ¥2,420,000
T16 Brad Kennedy 66-67-68-67—268 ¥1,432,000
T43 Matthew Griffin 68-69-68-68—273 ¥360,000
T43 Brendan Jones 68-68-71-66—273 ¥360,000
MC Adam Bland 68-70—138
MC David Bransdon 73-67—140
MC Andrew Evans 77-65—142
PGA TOUR Latinoamerica
JHSF Aberto do Brasil
Fazenda Boa Vista, Porto Feliz, Brazil
Winner Jaime Lopez Rivarola 63-63-69-69—264
T26 Charlie Hillier 65-67-69-75—276
PGA TOUR Canada
Q-School USA West 3
The Home Course, Dupont, Washington
Winner Taylor Funk 71-67-68-69—275
T4 Cameron John 69-68-70-72—279
36 Matias Sanchez 70-74-75-72—29
T82 Brody Harbinson-Graham 73-75-75-78—301
86 Zachary Maxwell 80-77-71-74—302
Epson Tour
Copper Rock Championship
Copper Rock Golf Course, Hurricane, Utah
Winner Dottie Ardina 73-73-65—211 $US30,000
T4 Amelia Garvey 71-72-71—214 $9,032
T17 Grace Kim 78-73-68—219 $2,462
T17 Soo Jin Lee 74-76-69—219 $2,462
T17 Hira Naveed 77-72-70—219 $2,462
T17 Gabriela Ruffels 81-66-72—219 $2,462
T17 Robyn Choi 74-72-73—219 $2,462
T40 Sarah Jane Smith 73-76-73—222 $1,210
58 Julienne Soo 77-73-77—227 $770
Champions Tour
ClubCorp Classic
Las Colinas Country Club, Irving, Texas
Winner Scott Parel 67-70-65—202 $US300,000
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
T2 Steven Alker 68-66-68—202 $160,000
T7 Rod Pampling 70-70-66—206 $61,000
T30 John Senden 69-72-71—212 $13,829
T30 Stephen Leaney 70-70-72—212 $13,829
T37 Mark Hensby 77-64-72—213 $10,400
T69 Robert Allenby 78-72-71—221 $1,760
