Having taken a 4-shot lead into the final round of the Honda LPGA Thailand, Anna Nordqvist bounced back from an early double with 6 birdies in her next 11 holes to hold off a charging Inbee Park and an incandescent Catriona Matthew and secure her 3rd career LPGA victory--and 1st since her rookie season in 2009. Nordqvist's closing 68 left her at -15, 2 shots ahead of Park, whose bogey-free 66 stalled her at -13 as she parred out over her last 3 holes, and 4 shots ahead of Matthew, who went 65-65 on the weekend. Michelle Wie also had a great week, but she's probably a bit disappointed that she made a pair of bogeys on the back 9 after eagling the par-5 10th to get to -11; still, she fought back to double digits under par with her walkoff birdie and secured solo 4th.
In fact, lots of golfers turned it on in the final round. Na Yeon Choi fired a tournament-low 9-birdie 64 to move into the top 20. Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller's 66s allowed them to catch Ya Ni Tseng (68), Lexi Thompson (68), and Julieta Granada (69) in a tie for 5th at -9, while Suzann Pettersen's own 66 got her into solo 10th. In fact, everyone to finish in the top 12 broke 70 today (including So Yeon Ryu and Azahara Munoz at -7), while Eun-Hee Jee (68), Dewi Claire Schreefel (68), and Morgan Pressel (69) burst into the top 25, as well.
As a result, a good number of players got left in the dust today, too. Lydia Ko, Cristie Kerr, Karrie Webb, Caroline Hedwall, and Shanshan Feng, who started the day with an outside chance of getting into contention, had to settle for top 25s. Pornanong Phatlum (75, +4) entered the week the hottest Thai golfer in the world, but left it 9 shots behind Thidapa Suwannapura (70, -5). Ai Miyazato (76, +6) got passed by two JLPGA young guns, Mamiko Higa (72, +3) and Natsuka Hori (71, +5), to cap off a dismal week for the large Japanese contingent. 2013 Rookie of the Year rivals Moriya Jutanugarn (78, +9), Caroline Masson (75, +14), Chie Arimura (71, +9), and Ayako Uehara (67, +12) pretty much played down to the low expectations they set for themselves last season. And despite finally putting together good final rounds, Paula Creamer (68, +1), Chella Choi (69, +2), and Jessica Korda (70, +4) had surprisingly flat weeks.
So Nordqvist's wire-to-wire win this week should look all the more impressive in this context. Given how well she hit the ball and putted, particularly on Thursday and Sunday, I wouldn't be surprised if she continued to give herself good chances to add to her victory total over the next few weeks and months.
10 comments:
Noticed He young Park wasted seventy birdies. Shot plus one. She needs to start making more pars. Same thing last tournament, lots of birdies, wasted.
That's why she's called The Rocket (tho' would be pretty impossible to waste 70 birdies in a 72-hole event!--u talkin' 'bout her 2014 total?)!
What is defined as a wasted birdie any shot missed on the green? within 1ft or 2ft... if you applied that to all players then most could have had a different score so to me there is no such thing as a wasted birdie it's either in for birdie or par. I do hate the way players and commentators also say they left a few out there because probably so did half the field an if they all went in you'd see a different result anyway. It was good to see Anna not falter like Ariya did last year which goes to show what experience does. I was also watching to see if NYC would beat Jessica and by how much after making the comment after the Bahamas that NYC was far more likely to be in contention next tournament than Korda. Just had a look at the ROY points and wow looks like So Yeon Ryu and Se Ri Pak are getting a second chance!! I'm sure Lydia won't worry no double bogies this week and hit almost all the fairways which was good. She would be a little disappointed in her last round. Nothing replaces experience especially playing Pattaya for the first time.
Perhaps they just thought Lydia needed a little more competition for ROY. Chose a couple of very handy players to include as well!!
Oh sorry I just did a check and I see Lydia played at Pattaya in last years tournament for a T14 so this was her 2nd outing on the course.
Colin, I think Robert was talking about HYP's tendency to make a lot of birdies, but also make too many bogeys and big numbers. When she can avoid the latter, she rockets up the leaderboard, but too often she plunges down it.
That's funny about the ROY page. Hope they haven't fixed it yet!
Correction I meant to say seventeen birdies, not seventy. Like to see her make more pars.ra
I'm sure Bruce Se Ri Pak will be having a giggle over it too will bring back some great memories of her 1998 year. Probably love to be back trying for ROY again! I don't know who is adjusting the LPGA stats but it also looks like Lydia has lost her pro status as she won $0.00 last weekend on her bio page which also means some of her other stats are out. Perhaps they ought to have you looking after it for them...
I think because Lydia was a sponsor exemption in a limited-field event, she doesn't get to count her winnings toward any official money list or get ROY points for her finish.
I know for sure she has been awarded ROY points for her T19 finish but surely someone will point out the obvious mistakes in the points table and fix it up. I know it a big advantage for Lydia to be able to play these extra tournaments for ROY points but she has earned that privilege just as Jaye Marie has for this weeks field. I'm sure all the opposition had the same opportunity had they been good enough.
Post a Comment