LUKA SASO recovered with a 71 in the final round on Sunday and wound up tied for 50th place in the ANA Inspiration that Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit won by two strokes in Rancho Mirage, California.
After a horrendous 77 the day before, Saso nailed three birdies to cushion a double-bogey seven at Mission Hills’ Dinah Shore course for an even 288. She finished 18 strokes behind Tavatanakit and banked $10,081. Tavatanakit, meanwhile, had no idea Lydia Ko was tearing up the course three groups ahead.
“Didn’t look at the leaderboard at all today,” Tavatanakit said. “Just because—I saw her name up there, but I didn’t look at it—I wanted to play my own game, which I did, and did a really good job of that today.”
With a chip-in eagle on the par-5 second, two birdies and a lot of par saves, the long-hitting Thai survived Ko’s charge without realizing how close it was until she finished and was preparing for the traditional victory leap into Poppie’s Pond.
“Like I said, I didn’t really look at the leaderboard,” Tavatanakit said “I didn’t really care who did anything. I just wanted to focus on myself.”
Five strokes ahead entering the day and six in front after the eagle, Tavatanakit shot a four-under 68 in 100-degree heat to beat Ko by two strokes in the first major championship of the year.
Ko matched Lorena Ochoa’s 2006 tournament record with a 62, shooting seven-under 29 on the front nine for the best nine-hole score in event’s 50-year history. The New Zealander began the day tied for seventh at six under, eight strokes behind Tavatanakit in the tournament played without spectators for the second time in seven months.
“My game was really solid and I felt like I gave myself a good run at it, but maybe Patty was just a bit too far away,” said Ko, who was winless since April 2018. “I think it just shows it doesn’t matter how far back you are, you can always go for it.”
Nelly Korda (66), Sei Young Kim (66) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (66) and Shanshan Feng (69) tied for third at 11 under. With AP