Nasa Hataoka

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.

Nasa Hataoka
Hataoka at the 2022 Dana Open
Personal information
Born	(1999-01-13) 13 January 1999 (age 26) Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan
Height	158 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Sporting nationality	Japan
Career
Turned professional	2016
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour
Former tour(s)	LPGA of Japan Tour
Professional wins	11
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	6
LPGA of Japan Tour	6
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron Championship	T7: 2020
Women's PGA C'ship	T2: 2018
U.S. Women's Open	2nd: 2021
Women's British Open	T7: 2022
Evian Championship	T3: 2023

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	Austin Ernst	300,000
2	4 Nov 2018	Toto Japan Classica	66-69-67=197	−14	2 strokes	Carlota Ciganda Saki Nagamine Momoko Ueda	225,000
3	31 Mar 2019	Kia Classic	69-70-64-67=270	−18	3 strokes	Danielle Kang Ko Jin-young Azahara Muñoz Inbee Park Park Sung-hyun	270,000
4	11 Jul 2021	Marathon Classicb	61-69-64=194	−19	6 strokes	Elizabeth Szokol Mina Harigae	300,000
5	26 Sep 2021	Walmart NW Arkansas Championship (2)	65-65-67=197	−16	1 stroke	Ji Eun-hee Minjee Lee	345,000
6	24 Apr 2022	DIO Implant LA Open	67-68-67-67=269	−15	5 strokes	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	Chun In-gee Ariya Jutanugarn	Jutanugarn won with birdie on second extra hole Chun eliminated by birdie on first hole
2	2018	KPMG Women's PGA Championship	Park Sung-hyun 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	Gaby López Inbee Park	López won with birdie on seventh extra hole Park eliminated by par on third hole
4	2021	U.S. Women's Open	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	Kotone Hori
2	24 Sep 2017	Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Women's Open Golf Tournament	74-64-65=203	−13	4 strokes	Lee Ji-hee
3	1 Oct 2017	Japan Women's Open Golf Championship	67-68-68-65=268	−20	8 strokes	Jiyai Shin
4	4 Nov 2018	Toto Japan Classicb	66-69-67=202	−14	2 strokes	Carlota Ciganda Saki Nagamine Momoko Ueda
5	15 Sep 2019	Japan LPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup	69-67-67-67=270	−18	8 strokes	Shanshan Feng Aoi Ohnishi
6	6 Oct 2019	Japan Women's Open Golf Championship	67-67-67-69=270	−18	4 strokes	Eri Okayama 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	2025
Chevron Championship		T48	T39	T7	T67	T17	T37	T13	T52
U.S. Women's Open		T10	CUT	T23	2	T28	T4	T44	CUT
Women's PGA Championship	CUT	T2	T14	T3	CUT	T5	T47	CUT	T36
The Evian Championship		T16	CUT	NT		T15	T3	CUT	T59
Women's British Open		CUT	CUT	T64	T26	T7	T11	T37	T33

  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	8	8
U.S. Women's Open	0	1	0	2	3	4	8	6
Women's PGA Championship	0	1	1	3	3	4	9	6
The Evian Championship	0	0	1	1	1	3	6	4
Women's British Open	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	6
Totals	0	2	2	6	9	16	39	30

• 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]
2024	34	[30]

Team appearances

Amateur

• Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Japan): 2016
• Patsy Hankins Trophy (representing Asia/Pacific): 2016 (winners)

Professional

• International Crown (representing Japan): 2018, 2023
• Amata Friendship Cup (representing Japan): 2018