SAN MARTIN, California — Brittany Lang defeated Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist by three shots in a three-hole playoff to win the 71st U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday at CordeValle Golf Club.
Nordqvist was assessed a two-shot penalty for grounding her club in a fairway bunker on the par-4 17th hole.
Nordqvist and Lang finished the final round tied at 6-under 282. Then they played a three-hole aggregate playoff — playing the par-3 16th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th.
Lang and Nordqvist took pars on the 16th. Both players got up-and-down for apparent pars on the 17th, but Lundqvist was later assessed the two-shot penalty. Lundqvist wasn’t informed of the penalty by a USGA official until after she hit her third shot onto the green at the 18th.
Lang then hit her third shot on the green and made two putts for par while Lundqvist three-putted for bogey.
Lang, ranked 40th in the world, won for just the second time in her LPGA career and captured her first major championship. Lang had come close before at the U.S. Women’s Open with four top-15 finishes in her first 11 tries. She tied for second in 2005, fifth in 2010, seventh in 2013 and 14th in 2015.
Nordqvist, who entered the round six behind New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and tied for 15th, shot a 5-under 67, Sunday’s best score. Lang trailed Ko by two after three rounds and shot 71.
Ko, who owned a one-shot lead after 54 holes, shot a 75 and finished two back, in a four-way tie for third with South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park (74), Eun Hee Ji (74) and Amy Yang (73).
Stacy Lewis (71) finished alone in seventh place.
Lang started the final round tied for fourth. She pulled even with Nordqvist atop the leaderboard with a birdie on the par-4 13th.
Lang came to the par-3 16th hole at 6 under and in a tie for first with Nordqvist, who had already completed her final round. Lang drained a 15-foot, downhill birdie putt, taking a one shot lead.
But on the par-4 17th, Lang three-putted from 45 feet for a bogey, and Nordqvist pulled into a tie for first, with Park one shot back and Ko two behind through 16 holes.
Lang missed an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th but tapped in for a par.
Park needed a birdie and Ko and eagle on 18 to join the playoff. Park hit her second shot into a lake and took bogey, while Ko parred the hole.
Nordqvist shot a 34 on the front nine, birdied the par-3 12th then eagled the par-5 15th to move into a tie for first with Park at 6-under. Then she parred her final three holes and waited as Lang played her final two holes.
Noren wins Scottish Open by one shot
Ice-cool Swede Alex Noren held his nerve to clinch a fifth career victory on the European Tour by one shot at the Scottish Open in Inverness on Sunday.
Two strokes in front heading into the final round at Castle Stuart Golf Links, Noren was briefly caught in a tie at the top before pulling away with two birdies in the last seven holes to card a two-under-par 70.
The 33-year-old from Stockholm, who had been the 54-hole leader for each of his previous four wins on the circuit, posted a 14-under total of 274 to finish one ahead of England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who birdied the par-five 18th for a 69.
Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts closed with a 66 to share third place at 12-under with Italian Matteo Manassero (70) and New Zealand’s Danny Lee (69).
“I’m so happy it’s over because it was a tough, tough leaderboard,” Noren told reporters after shaking off Lee and Hatton with birdies at the 12th and 15th. “A lot of guys at 11, 12, 13 under and it was just not a cruising win at all.
“Thinking about it this morning, how much it would mean, then it feels like miles away and now when it happens, it just feels unbelievable.
“I’ll just try to enjoy this. I know how tough this game is and I’m just really happy to get a win.”
Colsaerts, Hatton, Manassero and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, who tied for sixth after carding a 67, all earned themselves a place in next week’s British Open at Royal Troon via their top-12 finishes at Castle Stuart.