KAPOLEI, Oahu — 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. KAPOLEI, Oahu — Suzann Pettersen won
KAPOLEI, Oahu — 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.”
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 169 yards with a 6-iron 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 Inbee Park.
“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.
