By Tony Webeck

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