Wire-to-Wire 4th Career Win at Marathon Classic, Shokouh and Hariga Tie for 2nd, Park In-bee and Choi Woon-jung Tie for 22nd
Nasa Hataoka is smiling brightly while holding the trophy immediately after winning the Marathon Classic. Sylvania, USA = Getty Images / Multivitz Photo by Multivitz
[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Hataoka Nasa (Japan) benefited from heavy rain.
On the 12th (Korean time), the final 4th round of the LPGA Tour Marathon Classic (total prize money $2 million), scheduled to be held at the Meadows Golf Course in Sylvania, Ohio, USA (par 71, 6,578 yards), was canceled due to bad weather, and she claimed the victory (19 under par, 194 strokes). She maintained the lead for three days to win 'wire-to-wire.' This is her 4th career win, 2 years and 3 months after the Kia Classic in April 2019, with a winner's prize of $300,000 (34 million KRW).
The final day's play was suspended in the morning local time due to heavy rain, and as the weather did not improve, it was eventually canceled. Although the rain subsided and course maintenance was attempted, rain resumed, leading the LPGA Tour to decide that the competition could not continue. "The weather forecast is not good, so we cannot finish the game tomorrow," they announced, "and the tournament will be shortened to 54 holes." Hataoka surpassed a career total prize money of $4 million (4,234,058 dollars), becoming the 92nd player to do so.
This victory also boosted her confidence for the Olympic medal. She will participate as a female representative in the Tokyo Olympics held in her home country, Japan. Since the 4th round was not held, her challenge for the tournament's lowest score (23 under par) was canceled. Elizabeth Szokol and Mina Harigae (both from the USA) tied for 2nd place (13 under par, 200 strokes). From Korea, Yang Hee-young (32, Woori Financial Group) tied for 5th place (11 under par, 202 strokes), and Park In-bi (33, KB Financial Group) and Choi Woon-jung (31, Volvik) tied for 22nd place (8 under par, 205 strokes).
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