Sirak: 'Houston, We Have Liftoff' with Hataoka Win

Houston, we have liftoff. Nasa Hataoka is a 19-year old from Japan with a very American name, her mother using the initials of the U.S. space program to inspire her daughter to shoot for the stars. It could be that Hiromi Hataoka set the bar too low. Right now, the sky seems to be the limit for Nasa. Hataoka picked up her first LPGA win with a sizzling 63 on Sunday for a six-stroke victory at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, the largest margin of victory on the LPGA this season.

Hataoka has now finished in the top-10 in five of her last six starts and rolls into next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the third major of the year, as someone who has to be considered a top contender. Nasa nearly snared her first victory at the Kingsmill Championship in May, losing a playoff to Ariya Jutanugarn, who birdied both extra holes.

But Hataoka is proving to be one of those special players who uses disappointments as steppingstones, refusing to let them to be stumbling blocks. She finished at a tournament-record 21-under-par 192 in the 54-hole event at Rogers, Ark., with Austin Ernst at 198 and Lexi Thompson, Minjee Lee, Sandra Gal, Ryann O’Toole, Ally McDonald and Brittany Altomare tied for third at 200. “I was focusing on my game for the entire 18 holes,” Hataoka said. “I’m so happy for this win. I played with Lexi and other big names and this was a big win for me.”

The way Hataoka played in the rain-delayed final round provided every reason to believe this could be the start of something big for the tour’s latest teen sensation. In fact, she was stellar from start to finish, missing only six fairways and six greens over the three rounds. Also impressive was her composure. She never got out of her routine during final-round pressure, pacing off her own yardages and talking out each shot with her veteran caddie Dana Derouax.

Nasa faced two serious challenges on Sunday and was more than the match for both. On No. 10, after turning in 32 and pushing her lead to five strokes, Hataoka short-sided herself in the bunker. Meanwhile, Thompson hit her approach shot to 4 feet. But what looked like a two-stroke swing turned into a halved hole when Hataoka hit a brilliant sand shot to 3 feet and Thompson, who had three-putted twice on the front nine, missed her putt.

And if that was not enough to prove that Hataoka was not going to crack under the pressure, as rain started to fall on No. 13, she drove into the right hazard, getting an unfortunate bounce off the cart path. But after a penalty drop, she played a great iron shot to 8 feet and made the par-saving putt.

Hataoka is a surprisingly long hitter considering she is only 5-foot-2, averaging more than 262 yards per pop, good for 26th best on tour, and is 38th on the LPGA in greens in regulation. Yet more evidence of her rocket-like accuracy with her irons is the fact she is the only player on tour with two holes-in-one this season.

Nasa started the final round tied for the lead with Lee at 13 under par and Thompson, who needed a victory to claim the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings for the first time in her career, two strokes back. But Hataoka gave no reason for hope as she went out in 32 and no one got within four strokes of her the rest of the way as she played a bogey-free Sunday.

“She doesn’t give up easily once she has her mind set on something,” Hiromi, who was a clerk at a golf course when she started her daughter playing at age 11, told the Mainichi Weekly. “She became hooked on golf and would be glued to the TV to watch tournaments broadcast live.”

Hataoka, whose hero is Ai Miyazato, the Japanese star and nine-time LPGA winner who retired last year, got her tour card by being medalist in the 2016 LPGA Qualifying Tournament at the age of 17. She struggled a bit in her rookie season as she tried to adjust a new culture but this year has had the comfort of her mother traveling with her. And that seems to have made all the difference in the world.

With the victory, Hataoka became the 16th different winner in 17 LPGA events this year and the fifth Rolex first-time winner of the season. Her steady play over the last two months also propels her into that next tier just below the top players in the world. And for someone named after the space program, there is every reason to think her career is on an upward arc and will long be on radar screens.