Anna Nordqvist takes ShopRite LPGA Classic by one stroke
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J.—Anna Nordqvist birdied the 16th and 17th holes to break out of the pack and win the ShopRite LPGA Classic by a stroke Sunday.
With her mother visiting from Sweden, the 27-yearold Nordqvist closed with a 2-under 69 in windy conditions to finish at 8-under 205 at Stockton Seaview’s Bay Course.
The former Arizona State player has five career LPGA Tour titles, winning twice each in 2009 and 2014.
A stroke behind leader Morgan Pressel entering the round, Nordqvist made her move on the closing three holes—a stretch she played in 5 under the first two days.
She sank a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th to break a tie with France’s Christel Boeljon and get to 8 under. Nordqvist hit her tee shot on the short par-3 17th to 8 feet to the left of the hole and drained that putt as well to move to two strokes in front.
With Boeljon, winless in five years on the LPGA Tour, missing an 18-inch birdie putt at the 18th while playing in the group ahead, Nordqvist was not hurt by a bogey at the last. She finished her round, played in steady afternoon wind, with five birdies and three bogeys.
Boeljon, who played for Purdue and was the second in the 2007 NCAA tournament, was a career-best second after a 68. Pressel, who fell out of the lead following a bogey-double bogey stretch on the front nine, tied for third at 5 under after a 73. Rookie Kelly Shon got within one stroke of the lead, but a tough finish dropped her to a 70 and a tie with Pressel.
Nordqvist picked up her first birdie of the day at the par-4 fourth with a 5-foot putt. She moved into a tie for first after Pressel bogeyed the sixth hole and lost the lead to Boeljon after she missed the eighth green and made bogey.
Nordqvist picked up two shots with birdies at the par-5 ninth and short par-4 10th, draining putts of 8 and 6 feet. She dropped back into a tie for first after a three-putt bogey on the difficult par-3 15th but surged into the lead for good with her birdie at 16.
Pressel, who birdied the par-5 third, ran into her worst stretch of the weekend at the sixth and seventh holes. After her approach at No. 6 ran into the collar, she chunked her chip shot and made bogey. Then at the par-3 seventh, she came up well short with her tee ball, hit a bad pitch and three-putted.
The three lost shots dropped her from 8 under to 5 under, trailing by two, and she never held as much of a share of the lead the rest of the day in her bid for her first LPGA Tour win since 2008.
DENMARK’S KJELDSEN WINS IRISH OPEN IN 3-WAY PLAYOFF
NEWCASTLE, Northern Ireland—Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark won the Irish Open after a three-way playoff Sunday after his short winning putt on the first extra hole nearly lipped out before dropping.
Kjeldsen entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, but only managed a 5-over 76 and finished in a tie with Eddie Pepperell of England and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria. All had a 2-under total of 282 on the wind-swept, rain-battered Royal County Down, where just five of the 156 competitors finished the tournament under par.
The 40-year-old Kjeldsen took command of the playoff with a precision chip onto the narrow sloping green of the par-5, 525-yard 18th hole. Wiesberger’s second shot came up short, while Pepperell twice found the rough to drop from contention.