Ladies on the Link
GABY ROCKS!
ometimes when you scrawl your name
into the record book the achievement
is amplifi ed by the names next to
yours. And sometime when success
arrives the thrill of victory is
intensifi ed by the obstacles overcome. Both
were true for Gaby Lopez when her one-
stroke victory in the Blue Bay LPGA united
her with the legendary Lorena Ochoa as the
only tour winners from Mexico after Gaby
persevered in a gutsy fi nal-round showdown
with the two top players in the world. Before
the round, Lopez made it clear she was
playing for her country as she dressed in the
national colors of Mexico and after she held
off Rolex No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn, the 25-year-
old product of the University of Arkansas
dedicated the trophy to her grandfather, Jose
Lopez, who died earlier this year. Taking a
one-stroke lead over Jutanugarn into the fi nal
round, thanks in part to a hole-in-one on No.
17 in the third round, a feat congratulated
by Ochoa on Twitter, Lopez widened the
margin to four strokes as they entered the
back nine after Ariya stumbled to a 40. Then,
as Jutanugarn was making a run with three
birdies, Lopez went on a back nine roller
coaster ride, making four birdies and four
bogeys, including the fi nal two holes. Still,
Lopez managed to close out a 73 that left her
and eight-under-par 280 with Jutanugarn at
281, Celine Boutier at 282, Danielle Kang
and Sei Young Kim at 285, Jennifer Song
at 287, Moriya Jutanugarn and Rolex No. 2
Sung Hyun Park at 288. Defending champion
Shanshan Feng entertained her home country
crowd on Hainan Island, China, at 289, good
for ninth place.
HATAOKA RETURNS HOME AND ROCKETS TO VICTORY
Nasa Hataoka was more than a match for that pressure, closing with a 67, capped by
a birdie on the final hole, to win the TOTO Japan Classic by two strokes, adding to an
LPGA storyline in which globetrotting stars have risen to the occasion on home soil
in 2018. Hataoka, all of 19-years-old, joins Rolex Player of the Year Ariya Jutanugarn
and Sung Hyun Park, with three each, and Brooke Henderson with two, as multiple
LPGA winners this year, adding the TOTO title to the Walmart NW Arkansas
Championship presented by P&G in June, continuing a ferocious sprint to the finish
line this season. After a slow start to 2018, in which Hataoka had no top-10s in her
first seven tournaments, she now has 10 in her last 16 appearances and her name
is in the top five on the money list, Rolex Player of the Year points and the Race to
the CME Globe chase for the season-ending $1 million bonus while being No. 10 in
scoring average. Hataoka began the final round four strokes behind Minjee Lee,
who was three strokes clear of the field after 36 holes of the three-round event. But
Nasa charged up the leaderboard with a 32 on the front nine and, after bogeys on
Nos. 11 and 12, played the final six holes without a blemish to secure the victory.
GolfPlus
DECEMBER
2018
49