Nomura beats Kerr at sixth extra hole at Texas Shootout
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[May 01, 2017]
(The Sports Xchange) - In her
first career playoff, Japan's Haru Nomura beat American Cristie Kerr
on the sixth hole of the sudden-death playoff to take the Volunteers
of America Texas Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving,
Texas, on Sunday.
The win, Nomura's third on the LPGA and first this season, came
after a shaky final round. Nomura had a two-shot lead heading into
the final day, but shot 5-over 74, including bogeys on 10, 11, 14
and 16 and a double-bogey on 17, in the final round to open the door
for Kerr.
They both finished tied at 3-under 281 for the tournament before the
playoff.
"I like tough conditions, so I keep concentrating on safe shots,"
Nomura told SportsDay of the windy conditions. "I wasn't looking at
how Cristie played."
It has been 25 starts since Nomura's last victory at Swinging
Skirts.
The 39-year-old Kerr was attempting to win consecutive tournaments
after winning in Hawaii two weeks ago.
In the playoff, there were five matching pars before Nomura won
almost 7 1/2 hours after starting her round. She narrowly missed an
eagle, setting up a par-tap-in before winning when Kerr's 12-foot
birdie chance slid left of the cup.
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"It was a tough day," Kerr told SportsDay. "I had a great comeback
to even be able to get into the playoff. I mean, I had it; I had her
on that second playoff hole when I was behind the green there and I
just made an error and you can't do that in playoffs. You have to
take advantage when you have the chance and I didn't do that, so I
lost."
American Jessica Korda finished third at 283 followed by Park
Sung-Hyun in fourth at 284.

Lydia Ko will remain the world's No. 1 player for the 80th
consecutive week, even though she was forced to withdraw because of
allergies, because No. 2 Ryu So-yeon finished tied for ninth. [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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