Japan's Haru Nomura wins Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic
DALY CITY, Calif. (AP) Haru Nomura held on in strong wind to win the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic on Sunday for her second LPGA Tour victory of the year.
The 23-year-old Japanese player closed with a 1-over 73 in wind gusting to 35 mph at Lake Merced to finish at 9-under 279 and beat South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace by four strokes.
Nomura won the Australian Women's Open in February, pulling away to beat top-ranked Lydia Ko by three strokes for her first LPGA Tour title.
Nomura had a rules scare Saturday. After her third-round 71, she met with rules officials to examine her play from an awkward stance on a slope in a bunker on the par-5 sixth hole. The officials decided no penalty was warranted for building a stance, leaving her with a par instead of a double bogey.
Pace finished with a 74.
Ko shot a 75 on her 19th birthday to tie for sixth at 1 under. She won the tournament the previous two years.