Well, that was a surprising outcome. On the final day of the U.S. Women's Open, world number-one Lydia Ko -- and all of the Korean contingent -- faded from contention. (Ko's round -- in which she went 5 over par from the 8th hole to the 14th hole, just as she appeared to have the tournament well in hand -- was remarkably similar to what happened to Jordan Spieth at the Masters earlier this year.)
The tournament ended in a three-hole playoff between Anna Nordqvist and Brittany Lang. They were to play 16, 17, and 18. After 16 and 17, they were tied. But while they were playing 18, the U.S.G.A. determined that Nordqvist had grounded her club in a bunker on 17, thus incurring a two-stroke penalty. Now at that point, the U.S.G.A. needed to alert the two players as quickly as possible -- they were about to play their third shots on the par-five 18th hole. But for some reason, they didn't tell Nordqvist until after she had already played her third shot -- thus taking away her chance to take a more aggressive line. On the other hand, they did tell Lang before her third shot, which allowed her to play more conservatively. At that point, the tournament was basically over. Lang won the playoff, becoming the third American winner during this decade.
It was a fine tournament, for the most part, but an embarrassing conclusion for the U.S.G.A., which also had rules issues at the men's U.S. Open last month. Before next year's Opens come around, someone at the U.S.G.A. needs to make sure that they have someone who knows how to run these things.
1. B. Lang: -6 (68+75+68+71=282) (won in playoff)
2. A. Nordqvist (SWE): -6 (68+74+73+67=282) (lost in playoff)
T3. E.H. Ji (KOR): -4 (69+71+70+74=284)
T3. L. Ko (NZL): -4 (73+66+70+75=284)
T3. S.H. Park (KOR): -4 (70+66+74+74=284)
T3. A. Yang (KOR): -4 (67+71+73+73=284)
7. S. Lewis: -3 (71+74+69+71=285)
T8. C. Kerr: -2 (67+75+72+72=286)
T8. G. Piller: -2 (70+72+74+70=286)
T8. J.E. Shadoff (ENG): -2 (70+71+75+70=286)
And then ...
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