SAN MARTIN, Calif. – A delayed, two-stroke penalty on Anna Nordqvist allowed Brittany Lang to win her first U.S. Women's Open.
Nordqvist and Lang were in the middle of playing the final hole of a of three-hole playoff when they were notified of Nordqvist's violation. Nordqvist was given a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand with her club in a fairway bunker on the second playoff hole, the Associated Press reports.
"You never want to win with a penalty or something like that, especially to Anna, who is a friend of mine and a great player and a classy girl," Lang said to the AP. "It's unfortunate. It's part of the game and it happened that way."
"Seemed kind of unreal that it happened, but it does," Nordqvist told the AP. "It wasn't any reason to question it. But I'm certainly disappointed of the timing of it."
Both players made par on the first hole of the playoff. On the second hole, Nordqvist hit her tee shot into a fairway bunker. When she was preparing to hit the shot, her club barely touched the sand. She didn't realize it and both players made par on the hole.
After seeing a replay, television broadcaster Fox asked the USGA if there was a violation, the AP reports. USGA official John Bodenhamer went to the television truck to watch a replay which showed the violation that was not evident on the live broadcast or to the official watching the hole.
Lang made par on the third hole while Nordqvist bogeyed the hole giving Lang the win by three strokes.
Lang shot a 1-under 71 to finish with a 6-under 282 for the tournament at CordeValle. It's her second win in 287 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, the AP reports.