New Zealand native Lydia Ko won the event, beating out Mirim Lee and Ariya Jutanugarn after four playoff holes.
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Also the tournament’s 2014 victor, Ko closed with 2-under 69 at Highland Meadows to match Jutanugarn (68) and Lee (65) at 14-under 270. With the win, the 19-year-old retains her number one ranking and remains on top of the L-P-G-A Tour money list with over two.two million dollars.
A product of Udine, Italy, Carta carded four birdies in the first round; including three in a row on holes 5-7 on her way to turning in an even-par, 71, Thursday in the first round.
If it had dropped, Ko would have repeated her feat of two years ago when she won the Marathon Classic by a shot with a birdie on the final hole.
A hole-in-one at the par-three 17th keyed Jhonattan Vegas’s scintillating round of 60 in the US PGA Tour Barbasol Championship in Auburn, Alabama, on Friday. She had five birdies and three bogeys in the opening round.
Ko, whose back-to-back wins in California this year included her second major title at the ANA Inspiration, said her round wasn’t much different from her opening 68.
Lee and Ha Na Jang are seven under par at the midway point, one stroke behind co-leaders Hyo Joo Kim and world No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko.
Brittany Lang, coming off a playoff victory over Anna Nordqvist in the U.S. Women’s Open, had a 74 to tie for 24th at 3 under. I had four putts I thought I made, especially early on. “Got some really good breaks out there and was able to take advantage for the most part when I had an opportunity”.
Ko is 4-1 in playoffs. “It was probably one of the most solid rounds of the year, just ball-striking-wise”.
“Hopefully I get in that position again”, she told reporters.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn (67), a three-time victor in May, was in a three-way tie for fourth with American Kelly Shon and Celine Herbin of France. “I didn’t feel that down or disappointed”.
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The 46-year-old Cabrera, from Argentina, eagled the par-5 13th on Grand National’s Lake Course, holing a 60-footer from the fringe, and birdied the two other par 5s in a bogey-free 6-under 65.
