No one likes an abrupt ending. You’ve geared up for four days - planned, played, set your schedule - and then, with the quickness of a lightning bolt, things change. That’s what it was like on Sunday at the Marathon Classic presented by Dana when torrential rains soaked the Highland Meadows Golf Club with well over an inch of rain in 12 hours on top of numerous storms that plagued Sylvania, Ohio throughout the week. Despite yeoman’s work from superintendent Greg Pattinson and his staff, the place was soaked. LPGA Tour officials did everything in their power to get in as many holes as possible, pushing starting times back two hours, then three, then four. Finally, late in the day, when it became apparent that no golf could be played on Sunday, and with a grim forecast for Monday, organizers and officials made the difficult call to shorten the tournament to 54 holes.

Under ordinary circumstances that kind of win would be like taking your cousin to the prom. But in this case, Nasa Hataoka held a six-shot lead and had set a new 54-hole tournament scoring record when she teed off on Sunday morning. She reached the first green in regulation when the horn blew suspending play. For the record, it was her 49th green hit in regulation in 55 holes. On Thursday she hit them all, 18 for 18. And on Saturday, the day she shot 64 to run and hide from the field, she hit 17 of 18.

“It was a ball-striking exhibition,” said Karen Stupples, who was in the booth for Golf Channel throughout the week. “She was making great swings and finding the center of the clubface.”

This was Hataoka’s fourth career LPGA Tour victory, but her first since the 2019 Kia Classic. It was not, however, the lowest 54-hole total in her five years as a professional. Her first LPGA Tour win, the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, was a 54-hole event where Hataoka shot 64-65-63 to finish the week 21-under. That, too, was a six-shot win.

“Knowing everybody is working really, really hard to try to get this to a 72-hole tournament,” Hataoka said. “I wish it would've been able to do it. But with this weather it was really hard.

“I'm happy to be able to win.”

Now, Hataoka and her fellow LPGA Tour players travel two-and-a-half hours north to Midland, Michigan for the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the only official, yearly team event on the LPGA Tour calendar.

This is the second edition of this tournament, which features two-player teams that compete in foursomes (alternate shot) in the first and third rounds and fourball (best ball) in the second and fourth rounds. Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwanapura won the DOW GLBI in 2019 and will defend as team ALL IN this week at Midland Country Club. The 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19.

Hataoka is also in the field, teaming up with Lexi Thompson in what will likely be one of the favorites of the week, a formidable duo that combines power with precision iron play.

Another pair on everyone’s radar is Team Jelly, the sister act of Jessica and Nelly Korda. Between them, the Kordas have three wins so far in 2021, with Jess winning the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions and Nelly capturing the Gainbridge LPGA Championship at Lake Nona and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the latter of which propelled the younger Korda into the No.1 spot in the Rolex Rankings.

The sisters will also join Thompson and Danielle Kang as the four American representatives on the U.S. Olympic team.

They aren’t the only sisters teaming up in Michigan, though. Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn will play together as well. And there are some best-friend pairings: Team Brittany (Lang and Lincicome) along with So Yeon Ryu and Inbee Park, Sophia Popov and Anne van Dam and Katherine Kirk and Amy Olson.

On a sad note, one best-fiend duo that will be missing is Team Johrassic Park, the pairing of Tiffany Joh and Jane Park. Dow gave a complimentary hotel room to the team that put together the best promotional video. It wasn’t close. Joh and Park’s video included dinosaurs, babies, action, adventure and Samuel L. Jackson. Unfortunately, as many fans know, Park’s daughter, Grace, suffered a seizure just over two weeks ago and remains in critical condition with brain swelling at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. Joh, who retired from the LPGA Tour last week to pursue a career in college coaching, created a GoFundMe page to help the family.

You may donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fight-for-grace-fund?utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

The Dow GLBI, which begins on Wednesday and concludes on Saturday so that players have plenty to time to travel to France for the Amundi Evian Championship, is the perfect complement to the Open Championship, also taking place this week at Royal St George’s in southern England. Viewers can catch the final men’s major of the 2021 season in the wee hours of the morning and tune in to the Dow in the afternoon.

It is also a great chance to see family dynamics and the depths of the friendships that can only be found on the LPGA Tour.

Hataoka Heads To Michigan A Winner Again

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