Angela Stanford Wins as Charley Hull Sixth
Stanford could afford to drop a shot on the last hole -7 A Stanford (USA); -5 S Ryu (Kor), I Park (Kor), Y Noh (US); -4 JY Ko (Kor); -3 A Nordqvist (Swe), C Hull (Eng) Selected others: +4 L Maguire (Ire); +8 J Ewart Shadoff (Eng); +10 S Meadow (NI); +12 M Reid (Eng)
American Angela Stanford captured her seventh LPGA Tour title with a two-stroke victory at the Volunteers of America Classic in her native Texas.
The 43-year-old No. 79 in the world started the final lap one behind but carded seven birdies in a four under 67 to finish with a total of seven. ]
World number one Ko Jin-young, who also started one shot back, shared second.
British Charley Hull was 17th and tied for sixth after a 71 held her down to third.
Big winners Ryu So-yeon and Inbee Park shared the lead overnight with American rookie Yealimi Noh and it turned into a four-player draw early in the final round when Ko collected two birdies, before a double bogey on the 14th par-4, when her third shot rolled back to her feet, her challenge checked scary.
Stanford birdied four of the last six holes at The Colony in suburban Dallas to secure her first win since her first major title at the 2018 Evian Championship.
"After the Major, it would have been easy to be satisfied, and I was for a while," she said. "But I don't like bad golf. I worked with my coach and it was nice to be around."
Stanford loved winning while her parents watched; her mother Nan has fought cancer twice.
"It's pretty cool considering my parents never saw me personally win," she said. "Having my parents here was quite a problem."
The US Women's Open kicks off Thursday in Houston, with the Tour Championship season ending in Florida the following week.
