SAN MARTIN, Calif. — Brittany Lang loves the United States Women’s Open. Before this year, she had recorded three top-10 finishes in 11 starts in her national championship, including a tie for second as an amateur in 2005. Anna Nordqvist of Sweden had a more tortured history with the event, missing the cut in four of her previous seven appearances.
From such disparate places, Lang and Nordqvist converged at 282 — sharing first at six-under-par after 72 holes at CordeValle Golf Club and forcing a three-hole aggregate playoff. But as was the case in the men’s national championship last month, the finish was marred by a rules infraction that was not assessed until well after the fact.