Houston, Texas, United States: Former Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) participant Rina Tatematsu posted a closing 66 en route to the biggest win of her fledgling college career.
The 19-year-old Thai was in sparkling form at the Golf Club of Houston with a three-round aggregate of 14-under 202 to sweep to a three-stroke victory at the ICON Invitational.
The Oklahoma State University student began the week in 759th place in The R&A’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). Thanks to her success, she has broken into the top-350 for the first time, soaring 436 positions to 323rd.
The triumph underlined the promise that Tatematsu has shown in Asia in recent years.
Last year, she placed sixth at the Thai Golf Association-Singha Junior in Thailand and won the Honda LPGA Thailand National Qualifier to earn a spot in the LPGA Tour event at Pattaya’s Siam Country Club, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among her highlights in 2019, Tatematsu finished 32nd at the WAAP in Japan and earned a 12th place finish at the Major Champions Invitational at Bella Collina in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, a 16th place finish in the ICON Invitational enabled Vietnam’s Sabrina Nguyen to have the honour of enjoying the biggest ranking improvement of the week. She jumped 615 positions to 2,521st, her highest ranking.
In the men’s rankings, Keita Nakajima’s reign at the summit has been halted.
Davis Thompson returned to the top, graduating from the number two position in a straight swap with Japan’s Nakajima.
The University of Georgia student spent two weeks as number one in November last year. Thompson recently put up a stout defence of his 2020 Jones Cup Invitational victory, finishing runner up to Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
