An American dream came true Sunday afternoon at the Women’s U.S. Open but not before another USGA rules nightmare reared its ugly head.
Brittany Lang and Anna Nordqvist took advantage of a collapse by Lydia Ko on the front nine at CordeValle and the two veteran played finished 72 holes of regulation play tied at six-under par.
They headed for a three-hole aggregate playoff at the 16th, 17th and 18th. It will be a playoff that is long remembered.
Both players parred the par three 16th. At the 17th, Nordqvist found a fairway bunker with her drive. On her second shot, television replay revealed that she touched the sand, ever so slightly on her takeaway. That rules violation would cost her two shots.
But that’s where once again, controversy arose.
Both players parred the 17th and both were in position to make what looked like pars at the 18th. But the USGA got to Nordqvist before she hit her third shot and advised her of the rules violation and the ensuing two-stroke penalty, changing her par at 17 into double-bogey six.
“We got the information out to the players as soon as we could,” was the USGA’s statement on the penalty.
Visibly shaken, she hit her approach to the 18th, as did Lang. Nordqvist would go on to miss a short par putt while Lang two-putted to complete the three holes in even par to win her first major championship and only her second victory as a professional.
“It’s just hard to lose that way,” Nordqvist said softly after the bitter ending.
“It was definitely a shame for Anna for it to come down to something like that,” said the winner, Lang. “I’m ecstatic, I feel for her but definitely it took a little bit of pressure off me.”
Both Lang and Nordqvist rallied on the back nine when Ko bogeyed the eighth then suffered an untimely double at the ninth when she hit her second shot in a hazard. Nordqvist’s key hole was the par five 15th where she hit driver, five-iron to 12-feet on the par five and holed the putt for eagle to get to six-under.
Lang took the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt at the 16th, then gave it back when she missed a five-footer for par at the 17th to set up the playoff.
While Nordqvist thought of what might have been and Lang celebrated, Ko was nothing short of positive. “Hopefully I do have another opportunity to be in the final group. I enjoyed it, it was a great experience. You just can’t put a double-bogey on your scorecard.”
The playoff loss spoiled the day’s best showing, a 67 by Nordqvist. Lang hung tough with a 71.
Ko’s group fell out of position and was put on the clock, all three performed poorly after that. Despite her woes, Ko shot 75 and finished tied for third at four-under with Amy Yang (73), and playing partners Sung Hyun Park (74) and Eun Hee Ji (74).
