Bronte Law thrashed Annie Park to win her group and secure a last-16 spot at Shadow Creek; Mel Reid produced a thrilling fightback to beat Hannah Green and Azahara Munoz to book her place in the next round.
Saturday 29 May 2021 08:04, UK
English duo Bronte Law and Mel Reid both progressed to the knockout stage of the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play tournament in Las Vegas, as world No 1 Jin Young Ko crashed out.
Reid was three behind with seven holes to play in her must-win match against Australia's Hannah Green at Shadow Creek Golf Course, only to follow a hole-out eagle from 80 yards at the par-four 12th by posting back-to-back birdies to win the next two holes and pull the contest level.
Green edged back ahead with a par at the 15th and was still ahead with two holes remaining, only for Reid to claim the final two holes and snatch a 1up victory and moved joint-top of Group Nine.
Reid was forced into a sudden-death play-off against Solheim Cup teammate Azahara Munoz to determine which player would progress through to the knockout stages, where a birdie at the first extra hole was enough to book a last-16 clash with Minjee Lee.
Law, who had sealed victory against Austin Ernst with a hole-in-one the previous day, thrashed Annie Park 6&5 to finish top of Group 12 and will now play Danielle Kang - the only player to win all three group matches - on Saturday morning.
"You still have to execute the shots, but obviously feeling that little bit of momentum shift is what you have to grab when you're in match play," Law said. "I can sense it when it's there. I think that's one of the things that I like the most, it's the quality that you kind of need to have in that situation."
Kang beat Lizette Salas 4&3 to continue her 100 per cent start and win Group Five, while Sweden's Anna Nordqvist defeated No 1 seed Jin Young Ko 5&3 and then saw her off again in a play-off to qualify for the last-16.
AIG Women's Open champion Sophia Popov completes the quartet of European players in the knockout stages following a 6&5 victory over Korea's Sung Hyun Park, with Ireland's Leona Maguire failing to qualify after being narrowly beaten by Christina Kim in her final Group 13 match.
