Hataoka’s putter was undeniably hot at Wilshire. But the real key to her success was her long game. After missing the cut the previous week in Hawaii, Hataoka knew she needed a change. She’s been working with a new coach, new enough that she isn’t ready to share the instructor’s name; she hasn’t worked with him in person yet. Instead, Hataoka has exchanged texts with the coach, who is based in Japan, and had a FaceTime lesson once she arrived in Los Angeles.

They were on the phone for an hour and a half. The issue turned out to be ball position. After playing in the wind in Hawaii, Hataoka’s ball position had crept away from her body and towards her right foot. The issue extended from her irons through her driver.

“I didn’t play good last week. I knew I had to make a change, so it wasn’t hard to try something new [this week],” Hataoka said.

On the seventh hole of Friday’s second round at Wilshire Country Club, Hataoka said it “clicked.” The new ball position felt right. She was locked in. Over the weekend, she missed just four fairways and seven greens.

The prospect of implementing a swing change, with the help of a coach who you’ve never met in person, who’s halfway around the world, could be daunting for most. But Hataoka took the chance, and it paid off.

The post The swing change that led to Nasa Hataoka’s sixth LPGA win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
History repeated itself in Arkansas. In 2018, Nasa Hataoka and Minjee Lee found themselves in the final group at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Just 19-years-old, Hataoka won the tournament, her first LPGA Tour event, by an impressive six shots.

This year, again, Hataoka and Lee were paired together in the final group, on the final day in Arkansas. Hataoka again won, but it was a lot more stressful this time around.

The 22-year-old from Japan shot opening rounds of 65, each of which included a hole in one. By the time she reached the back nine on Sunday of this 54-hole event, however, she had cooled off. She made only one birdie on the back nine and a bogey, leaving room for others to make the most of the final few holes at Pinnacle Country Club. Danielle Kang was making a move, as was Eun-Hee Ji. But Hataoka’s biggest threat was Lee.

Lee’s birdie at the 17th put her within one of Hataoka heading into the reachable par-5 18th.

A good drive and second shot put Hataoka in position to two-putt for birdie. But an overly aggressive first putt ran 15 feet past the hole. She waited as Lee’s birdie putt nearly dropped. Lee settling for par meant Hataoka needed two putts for the win. Again, adrenaline took over and instead of a tap-in, she had a few feet left for the win.

Meanwhile, the third player in the final group, Eun-Hee Ji, made an unlikely birdie from the bunker behind the green on 18. If Hataoka missed her par putt, she’d be faced with a three-woman playoff. Statistically, a playoff isn’t a good option for Hataoka: She’s been in four on the LPGA Tour, and lost each of them.

“It was really, really stressful,” Hataoka said of the day, “especially after the bogey.”

When her par putt dropped, Hataoka had secured her fifth LPGA Tour win, a playoff had been avoided and the stress was over.

The post Nasa Hataoka wins again in Arkansas after drama at the final hole appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Paisley
Nasa Hataoka didn’t sleep well Saturday night despite holding a six-shot lead entering the final round of the Marathon LPGA Classic. It wasn’t from worry about the pressure of closing out her fourth career LPGA Tour victory or anxiousness about the momentum a win could give her ahead of representing Japan at the Tokyo Olympics in just under a month.

Instead, Hataoka slept poorly thanks to the dreary Sunday weather forecast. A soaking rain was predicted for Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, and sure enough it came, with Hataoka hitting only two shots Sunday before officials suspended play. Hataoka’s concern was that the rain would create distractions that might be the only things that could truly get in the way of the 22-year-old claiming victory.

“I was more thinking about it during [my] sleep,” Hataoka said. “I don’t know if I really slept well or not with the rain and all the suspension and everything, I was just not ready for this.”

Turns out, however, the soaking was so fierce that it made Hataoka’s fears moot. After waited 6½ hours hoping conditions would lessen and the grounds crew could get the course playable—Hataoka biding her time by napping in her car and listening to Japanese pop music—neither turned out to be the case. Officials eventually cancelled the final round, and Hataoka was named winner with her 54-hole score of 19-under 197.

“Unfortunately, at about 9:40 [a.m.], with the amount of rain we had, we started losing the greens,” said Donna Mummert, LPGA senior manager of rules and competitions. “That’s what took us down early this morning. Rain just continued, and here we are. We went back out a couple of times thinking we’d catch a break, [the] fairways were what ultimately made the decision for us.”

Hataoka’s victory will appear to be a runaway, but she and Mina Harigae were locked in a duel in the final group for much of Saturday’s third round. The Japanese star began the day with a two-shot edge only for Harigae, a 12-year LPGA veteran still searching for her first win, to overtake Hataoka on the sixth hole with her fourth birdie of the round.

Hataoka regained the advantage with two birdies over her next three holes, getting to 15 under heading to the back nine. Harigae’s last chance to catch Hataoka was a birdie putt on the 10th, which turned into a three-putt bogey. Hataoka capitalized, pulling away with four birdies over the final five holes on Saturday.

NurPhoto
An Olympic Club ball-marker and a pink ribbon in support of Jane Park’s hospitalised daughter served as inspiration for Hataoka on the week.

Throughout the week, Hataoka used a ballmarker from Olympic Club, where she lost in a playoff at the U.S. Women’s Open in June, to serve as extra motivation as she continued to build on her lead.

“Every time I look at it, it reminds me to just keep going and go for a win,” Hataoka said. “That’s what I use it for.”

Hataoka showcased superb ball-striking all week, hitting 89 percent of greens in regulation. It’s a 22 percent jump from her season average. After missing the cut two weeks ago at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Hataoka spent time at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando working with her coach on controlling her iron’s distance. It paid off when she scared a 59 on Thursday, en route to a career-low 61, and a shot a 64 Saturday to close out the win.

“I wasn’t really expecting it [improved ball-striking] to come this early, but this is the result that I got,” Hataoka said.

Next to her Olympic Club ball marker was another recent addition to her Srixon hat, a pink ribbon with “Grace” written in black sharpie. Hataoka, like many on tour, wore the ribbon this week to support Jane Park and her husband, LPGA caddie Pete Godfrey. Their daughter Grace is in the ICU in Dallas, suffering from seizures due to swelling in her brain.

“I know Jane and I also know Pete very well, so it was really, really sad to hear the condition of her little baby,” Hataoka said. “I’m just going to wish them the best for them and hope that we can meet up again.”

Hataoka takes the two-hour drive to Midland, Mich. for the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational to play alongside Lexi Thompson. It’s her final start on the LPGA before the Tokyo Olympics, as the four-time winner opted out of playing the Amundi Evian Championship to focus on her biggest goal.

“It was really hard decision for me whether to play Evian or not,” Hataoka said. “Because Olympics was my dream to be able to play in it, I decided to go back early and get ready for the Olympics.”

The post How a ballmarker helped Nasa Hataoka run away with the title at the rain-shortened Marathon LPGA Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
That Nasa Hataoka would walk away the winner of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship didn’t seem the likely outcome when the final round began early Sunday. Not when you consider the caliber of players the 19-year-old from Japan, who hadn’t yet won on the LPGA Tour, was about to face at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark.

Hataoka shared the 36-hole lead with Australia’s Minjee Lee. Two shots back were American standout Lexi Thompson. Three shots back sat 2018 U.S. Women’s Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn. This trio combined for 22 wins on tour, while Hataoka’s best finish since joining the tour a year ago was a T-2, which she earned by losing the playoff to Jutanugarn at the 2018 Kingsmill Championship.

But Hataoka’s lack of winning experience on tour didn’t seem to register with her at all, as she appeared in total control while shooting a final-round 63 that included eight birdies. Meanwhile, her competition struggled to keep up; Hataoka’s closest finisher turned out to be was Austin Ernst, who was six shots behind.

“I was focusing on my game the entire 18 today,” Hataoka said. “Yeah, I’m so happy to win.”

Over the course of the 54-hole tournament, Hataoka shot rounds of 64-65-63 for a 21-under total, beating the tournament scoring record by three strokes. Hataoka missed just six fairways and six greens for the entire tournament. The $300,000 winner’s check nearly doubles her career earnings.

“She’s just got a great game, no weaknesses, pretty long off the tee and just rolls it amazing on the greens,” said Lexi Thompson of the new winner. “So it was great to watch. It was definitely a well-deserved win.”

Thompson finished in a six-way tie for third, posting a final-round 69. While disappointed with the final outcome—she’s still looking for her first win in 2018—the tournament was a move in the right direction as she prepared for this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the third major of the 2018 LPGA season. Thompson’s best finish this year was a T-2 in February at the Honda LPGA Thailand. From February until the U.S. Women’s Open, she didn’t have any top-10 finishes. But Thompson followed up her T-5 finish at Shoal Creek with a T-9 at Meijer Classic and a T-3 this past week.

“I feel really good just overall how the week went,” Thompson said. “It was probably my best ball-striking week that I’ve had in a little bit. Just didn’t make the putts today, didn’t feel as comfortable on the greens like I did yesterday.”

Lee would shoot a closing 71 to also finish tied for third, while Jutanugarn shot a 73 to fall to T-27.

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