Nordqvist wins wet, chilly Evian
Anna Nordqvist won the fifth and final major on the LPGA Tour and did it with a bogey on the first extra hole in driving rain and hail to beat American Brittany Altomare in the Evian Championship in Evian-LesBains, France.
Course workers removed pools of standing water from the 18th green as the players approached the putting surface after their third shots.
“I am from Sweden and I’m freezing,” said Nordqvist, who was confined to bed for two weeks in July by a bout of mononucleosis. “I feel like I’m pretty used to bad conditions and that was probably some of the worst I’ve seen.”
For Nordqvist, 30, who earned $547,500 for the win, it was her first major since the 2009LPGA Championship.
Altomare got $340,000 for only her second career top10 finish, three weeks after she secured a third-place tie at the Portland Classic.
“It’s really big,” the 26year-old Massachusetts native said. “I had a good week in Portland ... and I felt like I could now start getting some good finishes.”
Nordqvist’s victory ensured 10 different major winners in the past two seasons.
Last year, Nordqvist lost a playoff for the U.S. Women’s Open after a rules violation on the second extra hole — for touching sand with her club in a fairway bunker — was relayed to her on the next hole. Brittany Lang of the U.S. won that major title.
Victory seemed far away when Nordqvist dropped two shots early in her round to fall seven behind Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn.
“Winning didn’t really come into my mind,” the 12th-ranked winner said, until making three birdies and an eagle-3 between the 12th and 16th holes.
Jutanugarn was seeking to follow her younger sister Ariya, the 2016 Women’s British Open winner, as the first siblings to each win a women’s major title. Ariya, who missed the cut, walked with her sister for Sunday’s round.
Starting with a one-shot lead, Jutanugarn reached the turn two ahead at 10 under but lost her lead when Nordqvist surged. While the 23year-old Thai was making bogey at the 13th, Nordqvist made an eagle and birdie to bealone on 10 under.
In her final round as a professional before retiring, twotime Evian winner Ai Miyazato shot 73 to finish 1 over. A nine-time winner on the LPGA tour, the Japanese star never claimed a major title. Her wins at Evian came beforeit was upgraded in 2013.
On the 18th green, Miyazato holed a short par putt then was greeted greenside by Gary Player who presented a bouquet of pink roses. “When I see all my friends behind the 18th green it almost makes me cry, so I tried not to watch them,” said Miyazato, 32.
European Tour
Frenchman Romain Wattel turned in a 2-under 69 to win the KLM Open in Spijk, Netherlands, his first victory in 187 tournaments on the European Tour. Wattel, 26, said he has been struggling for two years with his putter, but finally found his touch again this week. “My putting was very, very good,” he said, “I knew that if I could get to the green in regulation I was fine.”
PGA Tour Champions
Jerry Kelly apparently enjoys the Pacific Northwest. Kelly, 50, won his first senior title last month in the Boeing Classic outside Seattle and picked up his second in the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship in Victoria, British Columbia, closing with a 3-under 68.