Karis Davidson's bold bid to stay alive in the LPGA Match-Play is over, the young Australian losing in a playoff to Pajaree Anannarukarn.
The 24-year-old had earlier forced a sudden-death playoff against Anannarukarn after hammering the Thai 4 and 3 in the last match of group play.
After being beaten 2-up the day before by American Mina Harigae, it was win or go home for Davidson.
But she responded in emphatic style to force the playoff and give herself another shot of making the round of 16.
Annanarukarn looked to have hit the perfect drive down the right side of the 18th - the playoff hole - along the first cut until it came to rest in a deep divot.
She then ripped it out of there and onto the green, and she wound up winning with a 3-foot par when Davidson missed the green long.
“I was thinking, ‘Out of all the places, I’m in the divot.' But you've got to do what you've got to do,” Anannarukarn said. “Try to hit the green. And it was ... just perfect.”
Davidson was Australia's last hope in the tournament in North Las Vegas after Sarah Kemp (0-3-0) bowed out without a victory, beaten 1up by Peiyun Chien on Friday.
Also departing were top seeds Lilia Vu and Brooke M. Henderson, who won their Friday matches but were still eliminated.
Vu improved to 2-1-0 at Shadow Creek Country Club with a 1-up victory over Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen, but Switzerland's Albane Valenzuela claimed the top spot in Group 1 at 3-0-0 after defeating United States' Lauren Hartlage 4 and 3.
In Group 2, Henderson got past South Korea's Jeongeun Lee6 4 and 2 to finish 2-1-0, but the United States' Sophia Schubert advanced with a 2-0-1 mark after a 4-and-3 win over South Korea's Yaeeun Hong.
The highest-seeded player to reach the weekend was No.3 Celine Boutier of France, who capped a 3-0-0 run through Group 3 by crushing South Africa's Paula Reto 5 and 3.
The 64-player field was divided into 16 groups that competed in round-robin play. The winner of each group advances to single-elimination play.
Eight matches will be played Saturday morning, followed by four quarter-final matches in the afternoon. The semi-finals and championship match will be contested on Sunday.
Ireland's Leona Maguire (3-0-0 in Group 7), Spain's Carlota Ciganda (3-0-0 in Group 12), the United States' Cheyenne Knight (2-0-1 in Group 13) and Sweden's Anna Nordqvist (2-0-1 in Group 16) were among the others to advance.
with AP and Reuters
