27 Sep 2021 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Lee second to rare LPGA Tour feat
by PGA of Australia
By Tony Webeck
Minjee Lee has finished second at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship by just one stroke but it took an extraordinary feat to beat her.
With aces in each of her first two rounds at the sixth and 11th holes respectively, Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (67) became just the fifth player in LPGA Tour history to record two hole-in-ones at the same event and the first since 2016.
Those two perfect shots saw her begin the final round level with Lee at 12-under par and she applied the pressure early with birdies at three of her first four holes to edge two strokes clear.
Lee’s bogey at the par-4 fifth saw her fall another shot back and when she bogeyed the par-4 ninth was four shots adrift heading into the back nine.
A birdie at the par-4 10th reduced the deficit again and with Hataoka unable to pull away as the inward nine continued Lee remained within reach.
A birdie at the par-5 14th and a brilliant shot into the par-3 17th enabled the 25-year-old to draw within one with only the par-5 18th left to play. Unfortunately for Aussie golf fans Lee’s birdie putt from 15 feet shaved the edged of the cup, finishing level with Korean Eun-Hee Ji in a share of second at 15-under par with a closing round of 3-under 68.
“I think playing under pressure is where I belong, this is where I excel,” said Lee, who began the week ranked No.9 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
“Hopefully I have a lot more times that it can bring the best out of me.
“There are so many more positives than negatives out of this week.
“I missed a couple birdie opportunities today that I probably should have made.
“All day I was thinking about the missed putts I had and going into the back nine I just wanted to get to 16-under. I got to -15, so I was close but in this situation I still did play well.
“Maybe next time I’ll get on the 18th green in two.”
Su Oh followed up a second round of 5-under 66 with a 4-under 67 to climb into a share of 25th, Sarah Jane Smith matched Oh’s round of 4-under 67 to finish tied for 34th while first round leader Katherine Kirk faded to a 6-under par total and a share of 42nd.
Elsewhere this week Anthony Quayle recorded his best finish on the Japan Golf Tour in almost two years at the Panasonic Open, finishing tied for 11th to lead the Australian contingent.
Set up by a brilliant round of 64 in the second round, Quayle closed with a round of 1-under 71 to finish just outside the top 10, his fourth top-20 result in his past six starts.
Novocastrian Blake Windred moved up three places in the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca points race with a top-30 finish at the Open de Portugal and Stephen Leaney was the top Aussie at the Champions Tour’s Pure Insurance Championship, finishing tied for 13th at Pebble Beach as Kiwi Steven Alker logged his fifth consecutive top-10 in just five starts on the seniors tour.
Results
LPGA Tour
Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Arkansas
Winner Nasa Hataoka 65-65-67—197 $US345,000
T2 Minjee Lee 67-63-68—198 $178,028
T25 Su Oh 72-66-67—205 $18,541
T25 Lydia Ko 68-70-67—205 $18,541
T34 Sarah Jane Smith 70-69-67—206 $13,091
T42 Katherine Kirk 63-71-73—207 $9,302
MC Sarah Kemp 69-74—143
Japan Golf Tour
Panasonic Open
Joyo Country Club, Kyoto
Winner Keita Nakajima (a) 69-68-65-68—270 —–
Won in a sudden death playoff
T11 Anthony Quayle 74-64-67-71—276 ¥2.52m
T47 Dylan Perry 74-69-67-76—286 ¥314,000
T53 Todd Sinnott 74-68-70-75—287 ¥257,000
T57 Scott Strange 68-71-74-75—288 ¥238,250
MC David Bransdon 76-75—151
Challenge Tour
Open de Portugal
Royal Óbidos Spa & Golf Resort, Óbidos, Portugal
Winner Marcel Schneider 68-66-65-70—269 €32,000
T6 Daniel Hillier 69-66-71-70—276 €6,666
T27 Blake Windred 73-65-70-73—281 €1,720
T44 Josh Geary 69-74-72-70—285 €940
T56 Dimitrios Papadatos 75-68-76-68—287 €670
MC Deyen Lawson 76-71—147
Symetra Tour
Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout
Mystic Creek Golf Club, El Dorado, Arkansas
Winner Kum-Kang Park 77-69-65—211 $US26,250
T28 Robyn Choi 74-74-74—222 $1,524
T58 Soo Jin Lee 74-74-80—228 $656
MC Stephanie Na 75-77—152
MC Julienne Soo 77-79—156
MC Julianne Alvarez 77-80—157
MC Gabriela Ruffels 76-81—157
Champions Tour
Pure Insurance Championship
Pebble Beach Golf Links & Spyglass Hill, Monterey Peninsula, California
Winner KJ Choi 67-68-68—203
T5 Steven Alker 71-69-67—207
T13 Stephen Leaney 69-72-70—211
T29 Rod Pampling 74-69-71—214
T34 Stuart Appleby 66-77-72—215
T38 David McKenzie 71-73-72—216
T43 John Senden 73-69-75—217
MC Robert Allenby 77-75—152
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