England’s Felicity Johnson shot a second-round 67 to win the Mt Broughton Ladies Classic today by five strokes in Australia's Southern Highlands.
England’s Felicity Johnson shot a second-round 67 to win the Mt Broughton Ladies Classic today by five strokes in Australia's Southern Highlands following a close-up third at Moss Vale.
Johnson, who earned 4,500 Australian $, started today’s final round at seven-under-par after a course record-equalling 65 yesterday, a shot ahead of Australia’s Lauren Hibbert. "Flick" was off to a quick start this afternoon with an eagle at the par 5 third hole, followed with a birdie on the par 3 fourth hole to put some distance between herself and the chasing pack.
She stumbled at the fifth hole with a bogey after driving into the rough but bounced back by holing a long birdie putt from off the green at the sixth to take a two-shot lead over Hibbert, who herself made an early charge making an eagle at the third hole. A bogey at the ninth meant that Hibbert would need to make up a three-shot deficit heading into the back nine which was always going to be a tall order, given Johnson’s golfing pedigree and experience. Johnson was as solid as a rock coming down the stretch and signed for an impressive 5 under par 67 which gave her a comfortable five-stroke win with a total of 12-under-par 132.
Johnson was delighted to break through for her first tournament victory since her win at the 2011 Lacoste French Open.
“It feels great to be back in the winner’s circle, I couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2016. I have worked really hard with my coach in the US, Tony Ziegler, and it shows that we are working on the right things.
I feel like technically I am in a really good place with my game. I am lucky when I am home in the UK to have my step-dad Paul Johnson keep a close eye on my game so I am really lucky to have a great team helping me out.”
Johnson who splits her time between the US LPGA and the Ladies European Tour, has been long renowned for her ball striking and would be the first to admit that her putting has been the weakest part of her game.
“I tried to be more positive on the greens this week and it really helped. I have been working hard on my rhythm and trying to stay more patient which I haven’t done that well in the past. I rolled the ball really well both days and it feel great to finally hole some putts."
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