Nasa Hataoka carded four birdies on the front nine of the final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to cruise to her first LPGA victory.
Nasa Hataoka carded four birdies on the front nine of the final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to cruise to her first LPGA victory.
Japans Nasa Hataoka started the final round of this weekend’s LPGA tournament in a share of the lead with Minjee Lee, with Lexi Thompson and Ariya Jutanugarn close behind. But a close-to flawless front nine, which saw Hataoka card four birdies, extended her solo lead to five shots.
With a critical birdie at the 12th and an impressive par save at the 13th, the 19-year-old sealed the deal on her first LPGA victory with further birdies at 15, 17, and 18. Hataoka eventually finished the tournament with a closing round score of 8-under par, 63, and tournament total of 21-under, six shots ahead of the rest of the field- breaking the tournament scoring record which was previously 18-under held by So Yeon Ryu from 2017.
Austin Ernst finished in second place at 15-under after posting a 6-under par 65 in Sunday’s round. Behind her, six players tied for third at 13-under par, including Thompson and Minjee Lee, who were both paired with Hataoka.
Image credit: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
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