KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) ― Suzann Pettersen won the LPGA Lotte Championship on Saturday, beating Lizette Salas with a par on the first hole of a playoff after Salas chunked her approach shot into the water.
Pettersen, the leader after the second and third rounds at Ko Olina, bogeyed the final hole of regulation to set up the playoff on the par-4 18th. The 32-year-old Norwegian closed with a 5-under 67, and Salas had a tournament-record 62 to finish at 19-under 269.
“I thought 20 was going to do it,” Pettersen said. “That would take a fantastic round from anyone behind me, and it would take some good golf from me, but that was kind of the number I was shooting for.”
Suzann Pettersen celebrates her win at the LPGA Lotte Championship on Saturday. (AFP-Yonhap News)
Salas had a double-bogey on the playoff hole. She played a nine-hole stretch in 9 under, birdieing Nos. 8-9, holing out from the fairway for eagle on the par-4 10th and adding birdies on Nos. 12-16.
“Chunk is not bad, but if you have water it’s really bad,” Salas said. “But I still had a chance, and that putt didn’t go in. Not everything is going to fall, but I played my butt off today.”
The 23-year-old American was coming off a devastating collapse two weeks ago in the Kraft Nabisco Championship when she closed with a 79 to tie for 25th after beginning the final round three strokes behind playing partner and eventual winner Park In-bee.
“From shooting a 79 at Kraft to shooting a 62 here in Hawaii, like that just ― I can’t really describe the feeling, just I feel so proud of myself to put that 79 in the back of my mind and just to go out and play some golf,” Salas said. “I took a big risk in using the short putter, but I felt extremely comfortable. I felt like me again.”
Pettersen won her 11th LPGA Tour title. She had consecutive LPGA Tour victories late last season in South Korea and Taiwan and won a Ladies European Tour event last month in China.
“My game has been feeling great,” Pettersen said. “It’s nice that I have kept kind of the progress that I had from Kraft.”
Hoffman leads RBC Heritage
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) ― Charley Hoffman thought he was through with Harbour Town Golf Links and the RBC Heritage. Turns out, he just wasn’t ready as a younger player to handle one of the PGA Tour’s trickiest layouts.
Hoffman missed the cut his first time here in 2006, then didn’t do much better the next visit, going 72-80 on the weekend in 2009 and took it off his schedule for good. But Hoffman has found a new appreciation and success at Harbour Town that has him 18 holes away from his third career tour victory.
Hoffman had four birdies his first five holes Saturday to shoot 5-under 66 and take a two-stroke lead at 11 under over U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson.
“I would say I wasn’t mature enough to play this golf course,” Hoffman said Saturday. “I didn’t understand how to play it. I guess I would get frustrated when I hit the fairway and didn’t have a shot at the green.”
These days, the 36-year-old Hoffman had learned his way around Harbour Town like few others. The renaissance began last year with second-round 65 here that led to an eight-place finish. Hoffman opened play with a 66 Thursday, moved into a three-way tie for the top Friday and took control with his hot start in the third round.
“Yeah, it was definitely the best playing round I’ve had in a long time,” he said.
He’ll need to have one more to hold off those chasing him down. Simpson, bidding for his first victory since winning his major at Olympic Club, finished with a bogey-free 65, tying the lowest round of the tournament.
Kevin Streelman shot a 69 and was alone in third at 8 under.