Yu Liu was a clubhouse leader for the first time in her career and had to detach herself from what was going on with the golfers yet to finish during Saturday’s final round of the LPGA Lotte Championship.
Liu, who started in the sixth-to-last group, closed with a tournament-best 8-under 64 at Hoakalei Country Club, then got a little antsy as the others tried to catch her.
The 27-year-old from Beijing birdied Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 14 and 16 to take a one-stroke lead.
“I ate a little bit and definitely there was live coverage (on TV) out there, and I wasn’t … I didn’t just feel comfortable watching it, so I kind of just moved around and I went to the range for a bit, hit some chip shots and putted a little bit,” Liu said.
It took until the 18th hole for Grace Kim and Yu Jin Sung, playing in the final group, to make birdies and catch Liu at 12-under 276. Kim also birdied the 17th.
Liu fell short in the three-way playoff to Kim but was still pleased with her result.
“It was a bit unexpected, to be honest,” said Liu, who started five strokes off the lead entering the day. “I felt I overachieved today. If I knew starting off the day I would end up in a playoff I would be definitely very happy.”
Liu, Sung and Kim were driven by cart to the par-5 18th for the playoff, all seeking their first win on the LPGA Tour. Liu hit her second shot into the rough left of the hole. Her third got within 15 feet of the hole and her putt was just left. Liu tapped in and waited for Kim, who sunk a 5-footer for birdie and victory.
Sung, who led by one shot entering the day, bogeyed the playoff hole. Her second shot wound up next to Liu’s and her third was hit over the green.
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Liu, who moved to the United States 10 years ago and attended Duke University, shot 3 under in the first round, even-par in the second and 1 under in the third. She birdied the par-5 first hole in all four rounds.
“It’s just really steady golf and just played to my strength this week,” said Liu, who is in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour. “I mean, I started going through the swing change the end of 2021, and I just felt like the driver is still a work in progress.
“I still struggle off the tee a lot. Like I didn’t really hit a lot of fairways this week, but I just feel like I was able to manage quite decently.”
The field was chasing Swede Linnea Strom, who took the lead at 12 under with a birdie on No. 11. She was joined atop the leaderboard by Liu, who birdied No. 16.
Strom’s tee shot on the par-4 14th went into the bushes and was unplayable. Her chip shot just lipped out and she had to settle for a double-bogey, which dropped her into a tie for third.
“Just a bad swing. I just wasn’t really committed to it,” Strom said. “Felt like a little bit less wind, so I was thinking too much about the bunkers and then just had a bad swing and hit it way left.”
Strom and Peiyun Chien finished one stroke back of the leaders at 11 under.
