HOLLYWOOD — Carrying a four-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the LPGA DIO Implant LA Open at Wilshire Country Club, Nasa Hataoka’s game plan was simple — play smart and force those chasing her to go low in order to catch her.
The 23-year-old Hataoka then went out and executed her game plan to perfection. Opening the final round by making a 25-foot putt for birdie, Hataoka proceeded to birdie three of her first five holes, cruising to a final round 67, finishing at 15-under 269, and earning Hataoka a five-shot victory over runner-up Hannah Green who finished at 10-under.
It is Hataoka’s sixth career win on the LPGA Tour, but just her second 72-hole victory. Hataoka was the only player in the field to post four rounds in the 60s, displaying total control of all facets of her game. Hataoka credited a swing change made by her new coach during a video lesson early in the week with helping her play so well.
“He mentioned about the ball position on my stance, and that kind of helped me a lot,” Hataoka said. “I didn’t play (well) last week (she missed the cut), so I knew I had to make a change. It wasn’t really hard to try something new for me, to be honest. So, because of that, I think I was able to concentrate more this week.”
One of the keys for Hataoka throughout the week was her ability to continually find the fairway off the tee. On Sunday she hit 12 of 14 fairways, allowing her to hit more short irons into Wilshire’s small greens, giving her opportunities to make birdies.
Once on the green, Hataoka handled the sometimes unpredictable poa annua greens beautifully. She made several big putts during the final round, starting with a tricky bogey putt on the par-4, sixth hole that gave her a boost of confidence moving forward.
She followed that putt with a perfect tee shot on the par-3, seventh which resulted in a birdie, giving her a six-shot lead over the field. Later in the round, she essentially sealed the win when she converted a long eagle putt on the 15th hole.
“Poa annua greens are very difficult, but my experience on this type of green helped me a lot,” Hataoka said. “The bogey putt was really important for me today. I was able to keep the momentum going with that putt and making the eagle putt helped me relax over the final few holes.”
Trailing by four shots heading into the final round, Green felt her only chance to win was to make some early birdies and put some pressure on the leader. Green did that, making birdies on two of her first four holes, but nearly every time Green made birdie, Hataoka matched her.
“She holed some great putts and played solid all day,” Green said. “On the ninth hole I said to Nate (her caddie), I really need an up or down here, I need to put as much pressure on her as possible because obviously anything can happen down the stretch. She played great, so credit to her.”
Despite being unable to chase down Hataoka, Green was extremely pleased with how she played this week, particularly over the final two rounds of the tournament.
“Definitely really happy with how things are trending,” Green said. “It was nice to be a bit more consistent. Last week I got off to a great start and then just couldn’t maintain it in Hawaii. So, I feel like once I get the putter hot I’m pretty excited to see what’s to come.”
Inbee Park, who finished in a tie for third at 7 under, said Wilshire’s tricky greens and challenging layout made it difficult to aggressively try to chase down Hataoka.
“This type of golf course you just can’t be too aggressive,” Park said. “When you’re aggressive there is like — it’s just like a train of three-putts coming. I had some opportunities out there today, but the greens are just really tough. I wasn’t able to make too many putts today but there were some opportunities. There were a couple of reachable par-5s or holes where it was playing short; you got to take advantage of those holes. It’s tough when someone has a five-stroke lead and then gets off to a fast start. It’s just almost impossible.”
Hataoka said her goal for the day was to try and get to 15 under, believing if she was able to reach that mark at some point during the round she would be difficult to catch.
“I did have a lead, but obviously this course, this is a challenging course, so you never know what’s going to happen,” Hataoka said. “I was able to focus until the last putt. This sixth victory is special. I would like to keep counting more and more.”
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