Pressel can’t keep pace with Ko from the get-go

LPGA Tour golfer Morgan Pressel made four consecutive bogeys on the back nine Sunday, and finished in tie for second at 14-under-par 199.
LPGA Tour golfer Morgan Pressel made four consecutive bogeys on the back nine Sunday, and finished in tie for second at 14-under-par 199.

ROGERS -- Morgan Pressel couldn't hold back the tears moments after Sunday's final round of the Wal-Mart LPGA NW Arkansas Championship.

Pressel, 28, entered the day tied for the lead at 14 under, hoping to snap a winless streak covering a span of 193 tournaments dating back to 2008.

Instead, Lydia Ko, the world's No. 1 player, shot a record score to win her third tournament this year as Pressel faltered down the stretch to finish tied for second, three shots back.

Ko and Pressel wore pink shirts as they teed off in front of a large gallery in the final group. But that was about the only similarity between the two on the final day at Pinnacle Country Club.

Pressel's potential upset never took shape. Ko birdied the first hole to take the lead and never looked back. And while Pressel did well to stay within two shots at the turn, a stretch of four consecutive bogeys from Nos. 11-14 turned her showdown for Ko into a fight to second.

She ended up in tied for second with Candie Kung after shooting an even-par 71 in an up-and-down round featuring five birdies and five bogeys.

But her second runner-up finish this year wasn't what she envisioned, and her emotions showed through after signing her scorecard.

"I certainly for two days played really well, just today was more of what I've been fighting all year," Pressel said while wiping away tears. "It's just frustrating. I had high hopes, certainly. I felt like I played pretty well for nine holes, hung in there. But then I just couldn't keep it going and couldn't keep getting lucky, as I had been getting lucky, and it just wasn't my day."

A victory would have been extra special for Pressel for reasons beyond snapping a winless streak inching close to 200 tournaments, a stretch that includes six runner-up finishes.

Her week in Rogers is always full of off-course obligations, including headlining Monday's Pantene Beautiful Lengths -- an event that donates hair for wigs for cancer patients, a cause special to her after losing her mother to breast cancer in 2003. The tournament is run by Octagon, whose senior vice president is Andy Bush, Pressel's husband.

Joining Bush in the gallery were Pressel's grandfather and friends, all hoping to witness what would have been a memorable victory. But Ko quickly took control.

"I really just loved playing here this week in front of my friends and my husband and his crew," Pressel said. "It's just upsetting to not finish the way that I wanted to."

Pressel's star status has waned in recent years as she's fallen to No. 33 in the Rolex Rankings and No. 39 in the Race to CME Globe standings. She's not among the top 40 on the tour in any major statistical categories this year, but Saturday's 8-under 63 was easily her best round of the year. Ko bettered the 63 by tying the course record with a 62, then followed it up with a 3-under-par 68 as she cruised to a tournament-record 17-under finish and four-shot win.

"You're up against the No. 1 player in the world, I knew it was going to be a battle," Pressel said. "The course was giving up a lot of birdies, and I knew I was going to have to go out and make them. And she made a lot more than me today."

The victory cements Ko's hold on a No. 1 spot she's held for what will now be 36 consecutive weeks. Her ascension from prodigy to star is very much trending upward.

Pressel was once the youngest player to win a major championship after winning the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship as an 18 year old.

Ko now holds that title, and those days are in the distant past for Pressel. Moving forward, she'll try to build on her Saturday round even after another Sunday letdown.

"I know I'm heading in the right direction," Pressel said. "I know it's in there. I've just got to pull it out a little more often."

Sports on 06/27/2016

Upcoming Events