Nasa Hataoka

Nasa Hataoka
Hataoka at the 2022 Dana Open
Personal information
Born (1999-01-13) 13 January 1999 (age 25)
Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan
Height158 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional2016
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour
Former tour(s)LPGA of Japan Tour
Professional wins11
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour6
LPGA of Japan Tour6
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT7: 2020
Women's PGA C'shipT2: 2018
U.S. Women's Open2nd: 2021
Women's British OpenT7: 2022
Evian ChampionshipT3: 2023

Nasa Hataoka (畑岡 奈紗, Hataoka Nasa, born 13 January 1999) is a Japanese professional golfer. She has won six times on the LPGA Tour and six times on the LPGA of Japan Tour.

Amateur career

Hataoka was born on 13 January 1999, named after the United States space program, NASA.[1] As an amateur, she won the 2016 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship, a major tournament on the LPGA of Japan Tour. She was the youngest player and first amateur to win a JLPGA major.[2] She turned professional after her victory[3] and competed in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. She finished 14th to earn her LPGA Tour card for 2017.[4]

Professional career

2017

In 2017, Hataoka played on both the LPGA Tour and LPGA of Japan Tour. On the LPGA Tour, she made 9 cuts in 17 events and finished 140th on the money list, losing her card. On the LPGA of Japan Tour, she won two events, including a second Japan Women's Open, and finished 14th on the money list. She again competed in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, finishing first to re-earn her LPGA Tour card for 2018.[5]

2018

Playing almost exclusively on the LPGA Tour in 2018, Hataoka won two events, the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship[6][7] and the Toto Japan Classic, which was co-sanctioned with the JLPGA.[8] Her Toto Japan Classic win took her into the top 10 of the Women's World Golf Rankings.[9] At the 2018 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Hataoka lost in a playoff to Park Sung-hyun. She also finished tied for 10th at the 2018 U.S. Women's Open. She finished the season 5th on the money list and 3rd on the Race to the CME Globe.[10]

2019

On 31 March 2019, Hataoka won the Kia Classic at Aviara, closing with a 5-under-par 67 to clinch a three-stroke victory.[11]

2021

In June 2021, Hataoka started the final round of the U.S. Women's Open in sixth place. She shot a final round 67 at The Olympic Club and got into a playoff with Yuka Saso. Saso won with a birdie on the third playoff hole.[12]

Hataoka won her fourth LPGA Tour title, the Marathon Classic by six strokes, after 54 holes, because poor weather conditions made the course unplayable on Sunday, 11 July.[13]

Hataoka won her fifth LPGA title, and the second time (2018) in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, at Rogers, Arkansas on 26 September, by a stroke, after 54 holes. Minjee Lee and Ji Eun-hee were tied for second place. She set the scoring record in the 2018 event. She is ranked third for a Japanese golfer in wins.[14] With her $345,000 win, she rose to second place in the money ranking, trailing only number 1 world-ranked Nelly Korda.[15]

2022

In 2022, she won the DIO Implant LA Open on 24 April, her sixth win on the LPGA Tour, and the $225,000 prize. Her world ranking jumped six places, from 12 to 6,[16] which is where she ranked at the end of 2021.[17] She had missed the cut in her previous tournament the week before at the Lotte Championship, but won by five strokes over Hannah Green. She had a six-stroke lead after the 17th hole with a chance to tie the tournament record at 268, but bogeying the 18th made it a 269.[1] With a four-stroke lead going into the final round, her new ball position and swing change that weekend from a new coach, helped her miss only four fairways and seven greens.[18]

Amateur wins

  • 2015 IMG Academy Junior World Championship, Kanto Junior Championship, Faldo Series Asia Japan Championship
  • 2016 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, Kanto Amateur Championship, Ciputra World Junior Championship, IMG Academy Junior World Championship

Source:[19]

Professional wins (11)

LPGA Tour wins (6)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
1 24 Jun 2018 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship 64-65-63=192 −21 6 strokes United States Austin Ernst 300,000
2 4 Nov 2018 Toto Japan Classica 66-69-67=197 −14 2 strokes Spain Carlota Ciganda
Japan Saki Nagamine
Japan Momoko Ueda 		225,000
3 31 Mar 2019 Kia Classic 69-70-64-67=270 −18 3 strokes United States Danielle Kang
South Korea Ko Jin-young
Spain Azahara Muñoz
South Korea Inbee Park
South Korea Park Sung-hyun 		270,000
4 11 Jul 2021 Marathon Classicb 61-69-64=194 −19 6 strokes United States Elizabeth Szokol
United States Mina Harigae 		300,000
5 26 Sep 2021 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship (2) 65-65-67=197 −16 1 stroke South Korea Ji Eun-hee
Australia Minjee Lee 		345,000
6 24 Apr 2022 DIO Implant LA Open 67-68-67-67=269 −15 5 strokes Australia Hannah Green 225,000

a Co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Japan Tour.
b Reduced to 54 holes due to weather.

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–4)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2018 Kingsmill Championship South Korea Chun In-gee
Thailand Ariya Jutanugarn 		Jutanugarn won with birdie on second extra hole
Chun eliminated by birdie on first hole
2 2018 KPMG Women's PGA Championship South Korea Park Sung-hyun
South Korea Ryu So-yeon 		Park won with birdie on second extra hole.
Hataoka eliminated by par on first extra hole.
3 2020 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions Mexico Gaby López
South Korea Inbee Park 		López won with birdie on seventh extra hole
Park eliminated by par on third hole
4 2021 U.S. Women's Open Philippines Yuka Saso Tied two-hole aggregate playoff
Saso won with birdie on third playoff hole:
Hataoka: 4-4=8 (E), 4, Saso: 4-4=8 (E), 3

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (6)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 2 Oct 2016 Japan Women's Open Golf Championshipa 70-72-70-68=280 −4 1 stroke Japan Kotone Hori
2 24 Sep 2017 Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Women's Open Golf Tournament 74-64-65=203 −13 4 strokes South Korea Lee Ji-hee
3 1 Oct 2017 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship 67-68-68-65=268 −20 8 strokes South Korea Jiyai Shin
4 4 Nov 2018 Toto Japan Classicb 66-69-67=202 −14 2 strokes Spain Carlota Ciganda
Japan Saki Nagamine
Japan Momoko Ueda
5 15 Sep 2019 Japan LPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup 69-67-67-67=270 −18 8 strokes China Shanshan Feng
Japan Aoi Ohnishi
6 6 Oct 2019 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship 67-67-67-69=270 −18 4 strokes Japan Eri Okayama
South Korea Ryu So-yeon

a Hataoka won the 2016 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship as an amateur.
b Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in LPGA of Japan Tour.

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order.

! Tournament 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Chevron Championship T48 T39 T7 T67 T17 T37 T13
U.S. Women's Open T10 CUT T23 2 T28 T4 T44
Women's PGA Championship CUT T2 T14 T3 CUT T5 T47 CUT
The Evian Championship T16 CUT NT T15 T3 CUT
Women's British Open CUT CUT T64 T26 T7 T11 T37
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Chevron Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 7
U.S. Women's Open 0 1 0 2 3 4 7 6
Women's PGA Championship 0 1 1 3 3 4 8 5
The Evian Championship 0 0 1 1 1 3 5 3
Women's British Open 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 5
Totals 0 2 2 6 9 16 34 26
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (2021 Women's British Open – 2024 U.S. Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Tournaments
played		 Cuts
made *		 Wins 2nd 3rd Top
10s		 Best
finish		 Earnings
($)		 Money
list rank		 Scoring
average		 Scoring
rank
2016 1 1 0 0 0 0 T50 n/a n/a 74.00 n/a
2017 19 8 0 0 0 0 15 37,852 140 72.67 137
2018 24 21 2 2 0 11 1 1,454,261 5 70.10 10
2019 20 16 1 2 1 6 1 917,273 18 70.31 18
2020 12 12 0 2 1 5 T2 854,024 5 70.11 5
2021 21 16 2 2 0 5 1 1,901,081 3 70.46 25
2022 25 24 1 0 0 7 1 1,402,138 13 69.94 14
2023 23 22 0 1 1 7 T2 1,988,216 8 70.16 9
2024 26 21 0 0 1 6 T3 956,586 37 70.97 30
Totals^ 170 (2017) 140 (2017) 6 9 4 47 1 9,511,431 31

^ Official as of 2024 season[20][21][22]
* Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year Ranking Source
2017 44 [23]
2018 7 [24]
2019 6 [25]
2020 7 [26]
2021 6 [27]
2022 10 [28]
2023 17 [29]

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

References

  1. ^ a b "Nasa Hataoka The Newest Hollywood Star". LPGA. 25 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Nasa Hataoka becomes first amateur to win Japan LPGA Major". amateurgolf.com. 2 October 2016.
  3. ^ Mell, Randall (2 December 2016). "Hataoka, 17, leads by one at LPGA Q-School". Golf Channel.
  4. ^ "Nasa Hataoka – Bio". LPGA. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Japan's Nasa Hataoka wins LPGA Tour qualifying tournament". USA Today. Associated Press. 3 December 2017.
  6. ^ "In the Winner's Circle with Nasa Hataoka at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship". LPGA. 24 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Japanese teen Nasa Hataoka wins NW Arkansas Championship". USA Today. Associated Press. 24 June 2018.
  8. ^ Strege, John (4 November 2018). "Nasa Hataoka wins Toto Japan Classic with an assist from Minjee Lee's disastrous front nine". Golf Digest.
  9. ^ "Nasa Hataoka climbs to No. 7 in world rankings". The Japan Times. 6 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Nasa Hataoka – Stats". LPGA. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Hataoka wins Kia Classic for third LPGA victory". Golf Channel. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Nasa Hataoka again Oh-so-close to Major Victory". LPGA. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  13. ^ Emilia Migliaccio (11 July 2021). "Nasa Hataoka declared winner as Marathon LPGA Classic reduced to 54 holes". Golf Channel.
  14. ^ "Nasa Hatoaka Earns Second Win of 2021 at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship". LPGA. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Nasa Hataoka 'Stats'". LPGA. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". Rolex Rankings. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". Rolex Rankings. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  18. ^ Levins, Keely (24 April 2022). "The swing change that led to Nasa Hataoka's sixth LPGA win". Golf Digest. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Nasa Hataoka". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Nasa Hataoka stats". LPGA. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  21. ^ "Nasa Hataoka results". LPGA. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  22. ^ "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  23. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
  25. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
  27. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2022.
  29. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.