Germany’s Sophia Popov ousted world number two Park In-bee after 20 holes while China’s Feng Shanshan advanced after 22 holes in Saturday’s LPGA Match Play knockout round openers.
Four of the eight matches in the round of 16 needed extra holes to decide a winner, with Popov making a birdie to close out her match and Feng eliminating American Brittany Altomare with an eagle on the fourth extra hole.
Quarter-final matches at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas were scheduled for Saturday afternoon while the semi-finals and championship match were set for Sunday.
Popov squared her match against Park with a birdie to win the par-5 16th, then made bogey to lose the par-3 17th. The German eagled to win the par-5 18th and force extra holes.
Popov’s quarter-final opponent will be Thailand’s 10th-ranked Patty Tavatanakit, who ousted Japan’s Nasa Hataoka 6&4.
Patty took four of the first eight holes, birdied 11 and 12 to go 6-up, dropped her only hole with a bogey at 13 but advanced with a birdie at 14.
Neither Feng nor Altomare ever led by more than 1-up.
Feng squared the match with a birdie at 16, fell behind with a bogey at 17, then birdied the 18th to square the match again and force extra holes, setting the stage for Feng’s decisive eagle.
Next up for Feng is South Korea’s Ji Eun-hee, who birdied to win each of the last three holes to defeat compatriot Jenny Shin in 19 holes to advance.
Ji had birdied three of four holes to go 2-up after 10 but Shin birdied to win three of four holes to put herself 2-up after 16 holes. That set the stage for Ji to birdie the par-3 17th, par-5 18th and the first extra hole for the triumph.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn closed with a birdie-eagle-birdie run to defeat Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist 4&3.
Nordqvist, a six-time member of the European Solheim Cup team, birdied the par-3 eighth to square the match but Ariya birdied the ninth and par-5 10th to regain the lead. Nordqvist birdied the 12th to go 1-down but Ariya won the last three holes to close out her European rival.
– Ariya gets Lee next –
Next up for Ariya will be Australia’s 11th-ranked Minjee Lee, who never trailed in beating England’s Mel Reid 5&4.
Lee won the first hole with a birdie, took the sixth and par-5 seventh with birdies and took the ninth with a par.
Reid won her only hole at the 10th with a par but Lee won the 12th with a birdie and par-3 13th with a par before closing out the match by halving 14 with a par.
Sixth-ranked Danielle Kang of the United States birdied the 18th hole to beat England’s Bronte Law 2-up and advance to a quarter-final matchup with 30th-ranked compatriot Ally Ewing, who eliminated American Jenny Coleman in 19 holes.
Kang, the only remaining player to reach the last eight after winning every group stage match, won three of the first six holes for a 2-up edge, but Law parred the 12th and birdied the 14th to square the match. Kang reclaimed the led when Law bogeyed the par-3 17th and closed out the match with her final birdie.
Neither player was ever more than 1-up in the Coleman-Ewing match. Coleman never managed a birdie but she parred the par-3 17th to seize a 1-up advantage. Ewing birdied 18 to force extra holes, then parred to win the match.
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