Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play recaps: Day 3 at Shadow Creek
Here’s a look at how the 32 matches played out on Day 3 of the round-robin format in the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play.
Players competed in three days of pool play with the player with the best record from each of the 16 groups (playoffs, when necessary, determined a group winner) advancing to the knockout stage of match play at Shadow Creek. Click here for group records. Click here for the bracket.
Group 1
Anna Nordqvist (32) def. Jin Young Ko (1), 5 and 3: Nordqvist, a six-time member of the European Solheim Cup team, took down the No. 1 seed on Friday. Nordqvist won the first two holes of the day and never relinquished her lead in the match. Ko won just a single hole as Nordqvist closed out the match at the par-4 15th.
Caroline Masson (33) vs. Natalie Gulbis (64), tied: Trailing 2 down with 2 holes to play, Gulbis battled back to win both the 17th and 18th holes to tie her match with Masson. Gulbis rolled in a 6-footer for birdie at the par-3 17th and drained another from 12 feet at the par-5 18th to pull even with Masson and deny the German the chance to advance to the Round of 16.
Playoff: Nordqvist def. Ko: On the first playoff hole, the par-4 first, Ko found the rough off the tee. Nordqvist was able to easily two-putt for par to defeat Ko and advance.
Group Winner: Anna Nordqvist
Group 2
Inbee Park (2) def. Gaby Lopez (31), 2 and 1: The match between Park and Lopez swung both ways for the day at Shadow Creek. Park took an early 1-up lead but Lopez rallied with wins on three of five holes on the front nine to flip the lead, 2 up, in her favor. But as the pair made the turn, Park took control. She won six of the next seven holes to go 3 up in the match with Lopez. Lopez made birdie at the par-5 16th to cut into Park’s lead but it wasn’t enough to catch the former world No. 1.
Celine Boutier (34) def. Jennifer Chang (63), 3 and 1: Boutier took command of the match on the first hole, making birdie at the par 4 to take the lead. She extended her lead to as much as 4 up at the par-4 12th. Chang won holes 13-15, but Boutier responded with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th holes to win the match.
Group winner: Inbee Park
Group 3
Yu Liu (35) def. Ayako Uehara (62), 4 and 3: Liu earned her first win of the week with a commanding victory over Uehara. Liu never trailed in the match as she won three of the first four holes to extend her lead to 2 up. Uehara won three holes on the day, but Liu responded with three birdies between holes 12-15 to close out the match, 4 and 3.
Sei Young Kim (3) def. Brittany Altomare (30), 2 and 1: Kim looked poised to close out the match early by going 3 up with three holes to play. But Kim stumbled on the closing stretch, recording back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes to open the door for Altomare, who needed to birdie the 17th hole to extend the match. When she failed to do so, Kim won, 2 and 1.
Playoff: Altomare def. Kim: On the second playoff hole, the par-4 second, Altomare won with par when Kim made bogey.
Group winner: Brittany Altomare
Full-field scores from the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play
Group 4
Brooke Henderson (4) vs. Angela Stanford (29), tied: Henderson got off to a good start on Day 3 with a birdie at the first hole to take a 1-up lead. But Stanford rallied with two birdies on the front nine to grab the advantage. However, the Solheim Cup veteran struggled on the back nine, where a double bogey-bogey stretch allowed Henderson to tie the match. Henderson took a 1-up advantage at the 17th hole when Stanford made double bogey at the par 3, but Stanford made a critical birdie at the closing hole to tie the match.
Jenny Coleman (61) def. Ashleigh Buhai (36), tied: Coleman’s improbable run continued on Friday as the No. 61 seed defeated Buhai in a hard-fought match that came down to the 18th hole. Tied at the par-5 18th, Buhai needed to win the hole to have a chance to force a playoff with Coleman in hopes of advancing to the Round of 16. Instead, her birdie effort came up inches short of the hole, allowing Coleman to two-putt for par to remain tied in the match and advance to Saturday.
Group Winner: Jenny Coleman
Group 5
Madelene Sagstrom (37) vs. Albane Valenzuela (60), tied: Neither Sagstrom nor Valenzuela won a match during the first three days at Shadow Creek. They both lost their first two matches and ended their duel in a tie. Valenzuela looked on track for the win, taking the lead at the fifth hole and extending her lead to 3 up with three holes to play. That’s when Sagstrom got aggressive and birdied the final three holes to tie the match.
Danielle Kang (5) def. Lizette Salas (28), 4 and 3: Kang and Salas entered the match both with a record of 2-0-0. While both were off to a great start, it was Kang who was able to keep her momentum rolling on the third day. Salas trailed the entire match and when Kang rolled in a 15-footer at the par-4 14th to go 4 up with four to play, it became a hurdle too high for Salas to climb.
Group Winner: Danielle Kang
Group 6
Jenny Shin (38) def. Alison Lee (59), 4 and 2: Lee took early command of the match with Shin, leading for the entire front nine. But the momentum shifted after the pair made the turn at Shadow Creek when Shin won the 10th and 11th holes to flip the match to lead 1 up. She won holes 14-16 to extend her lead and close out the match, 4 and 2, at the 16th hole.
Hyo Joo Kim (6) def. Megan Khang (27), 1 up: Neither player was able to lead more than 1 up during the course of their match. Kang held a narrow 1-up lead at the par-5 16th, but Kim won the final two holes, including an eagle at the par-5 closing hole.
Playoff: Shin def. Lee: Shin defeated Lee on Day 3 to advance to the playoff, where the pair met again. Shin won on the fourth extra hole to advance to Saturday.
Group Winner: Jenny Shin
Group 7
Patty Tavatanakit (7) def. Stacy Lewis (26), 5 and 4: Tavatanakit defeated Lewis, a four-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team. Lewis never led in the match as Tavatanakit took an early lead at the second hole when Lewis made bogey. Tavatanakit hit her stride at the par-5 seventh to win six of the next eight holes and close out her match with Lewis at the par-4 14th.
Mi Hyang Lee (39) vs. Sarah Kemp (58), tied: Kemp took early control in her match with Lee, which she held onto until the final four holes. That’s when the momentum shifted Lee’s way, as she won holes 15-17 to flip the match and take a 1-up lead over Kemp. But Kemp rallied at the last, making birdie at the par-5 18th to tie the match.
Group Winner: Patty Tavatanakit
Group 8
Cheyenne Knight (40) def. Jaye Marie Green (57), 1 up: Green jumped out to the early lead in her match with Knight by winning two of her first three holes. That would prove to be the biggest lead of the match as the two remained close the rest of the way. Knight won three of the last seven holes to take a 1-up lead with two holes to play. Green won the final two holes, including a birdie at the final hole to win the match.
Minjee Lee (8) def. Moriya Jutanugarn (25), 4 and 3: Lee never trailed against Jutanugarn, winning five holes to close out the match at the par-4 15th. Friday, Jutanugarn’s lackluster performance, winning just a single hole, came as a surprise given her success the first two days in closing out both her matches early.
Group Winner: Minjee Lee
Group 9
Azahara Munoz (41) def. Gerina Piller (56), 2 and 1: Munoz won the first three holes of the day to take a quick 3-up lead over Piller. She led the entire match and closed out things on the par-3 17th.
Mel Reid (24) def. Hannah Green (9), 1 up: Reid sat 3 down to Green through the par-4 11th, but that’s when the tide turned for Reid. She won with birdies on holes 12-14 to tie the match. Reid won the final two holes to flip the match and win, 1 up.
Playoff: Reid def. Munoz: On the first extra hole, Reid made birdie to defeat Munoz and advance to Saturday’s Round of 16.
Group Winner: Mel Reid
Highlights: Coleman springs upset at Bank of Hope
Group 10
Jing Yan (55) def. Jasmine Suwannapura (42), 4 and 3: The lead changed hands three times over the course of the match. As the pair made the turn, that’s when the momentum shifted in Yan’s favor. She put together five birdies over the last six holes to close out the match at the 15th and capture her first win of the week.
Nasa Hataoka (10) vs. Mi Jung Hur (23), tied: The match between Hataoka and Hur remained close throughout as both players won three holes each. Hatoaka held the biggest lead of the day when she went 2 up at the par-3 eighth hole, but a critical win at the par-3 17th allowed Hur to tie the match with one hole to play. Both players made par at the final hole to finish the match with a tie.
Group Winner: Nasa Hataoka
Group 11
Mirim Lee (22) def. So Yeon Ryu (11), 4 and 3: Lee’s first win of the week came on Friday with a convincing defeat of Ryu. Although Ryu took the early lead with a win at the first hole, Lee responded with wins at the second and third holes to take a 1-up advantage in the match. She carded three birdies in a four-hole stretch between holes 8-11 to extend her lead over Ryu and closed out the match with another birdie at the par-4 15th.
Eun-Hee Ji (43) def. Ryann O’Toole (54), 1 up: In this closely contested match, Ji took a 2-up lead for the first time in the match at the par-4 15th hole after winning back-to-back holes. O’Toole made birdie at the 17th to sit just 1 down with one hole to play. Faced with another birdie at the par-5 18th, O’Toole three-putted to lose the hole and the match.
Playoff: Ji def. Ryu: On the second playoff hole, Ji drained a par putt from long range at the par 4 to defeat Ryu, the top-seeded player in Group 11, to advance to the Round of 16.
Group Winner: Eun-Hee Ji
Group 12
Bronte Law (44) def. Annie Park (53), 6 and 5: Law won her second match of the week with a convincing victory over Park. She won eight holes in a 13-hole stretch to take a 6-up lead on Park, who Law defeated, 6 and 5, at the par-3 13th hole.
Austin Ernst (12) def. Amy Olson (21), 5 and 4: Neither player won a single hole until the par-3 eighth, when Ernst won her first hole of the day. She used that as a springboard, winning five of the next six holes to close out the match at the par-4 14th.
Group Winner: Bronte Law
Group 13
Ally Ewing (20) def. Jennifer Kupcho (13), 1 up: Kupcho was in command until the par-4 15th, when the momentum shifted in Ewing’s direction. It was at the 15th that Ewing made birdie to climb just 1 down with three holes to play. Ewing won back-to-back holes at the 17th and 18th to advance.
Christina Kim (52) def. Leona Maguire (45), 1 up: The match between Maguire and Kim was a tale of two nines as Maguire dominated the front and Kim the back. The tide turned in Kim’s favor after the pair made the turn and Kim won three holes in a four-hole stretch to take a 2-up lead on the LPGA rookie. Maguire won her fourth hole of the day at the par-3 17th to sit 1 down with one hole to play, but Kim sealed things with a birdie at the last.
Group Winner: Ally Ewing
Group 14
Shanshan Feng (19) def. Jeongeun Lee6 (14), 1 up: Feng won back-to-back holes at the 13th and 14th holes to take a 2-up lead in the match. At the par-5 16th, Lee6 rallied with a birdie to sit just 1 down with two holes to play. But neither player was able to make a move at the 17th or 18th holes, giving Feng the 1-up advantage.
Pajaree Anannarukarn (51) def. Brittany Lincicome (46), 2 and 1: The lead in this tightly contested match bounced back and forth between the two competitors five times over the course of the day. Tied with three holes to go, Anannarukarn won back-to-back holes at the 16th and 17th to defeat Lincicome, 2 and 1.
Group Winner: Shanshan Feng
Group 15
Sophia Popov (15) def. Sung Hyun Park (18), 6 and 5: Following a standout performance on Thursday that saw Popov defeat Su Oh, 5 and 3, she did one better on Friday by defeating Park, 6 and 5. Popov never trailed in her match with the former world No. 1 as she won eight of 13 holes.
Su Oh (47) def. Hee Young Park (50), 2 up: Oh earned her first win of the week with a defeat of Park. Oh extended her lead to 4 up with four holes to play, but Park won three of the last four holes to climb to just 1 down with one hole to play. Oh responded with a birdie at the last hole to win the match.
Group Winner: Sophia Popov
Group 16
Sarah Schmelzel (48) def. Lauren Stephenson (49), 3 and 2: Schmelzel stumbled early, making bogey at the par-4 second to fall 1 down to Stephenson. But that was the only weak part of the match for Schmelzel, who won her next two holes to flip the match. She never trailed the remainder of the match.
Ariya Jutanugarn (16) vs. Carlota Ciganda (17), tied: Jutanugarn held a 2-up lead over Ciganda at the par-4 14th, but struggled over the final stretch. Jutanugarn went bogey, double bogey, double bogey on holes 15-17 to open the door for Ciganda, who won those three holes. Ciganda held a narrow 1-up advantage as the pair headed to the par-5 18th, where Jutanugarn bounced back with a birdie to tie the match.
Playoff: Jutanugarn def. Schmelzel: Jutanugarn won at the first extra hole, the par-4 first to move to the knockout stage.
Group Winner: Ariya Jutanugarn