England’s Georgia Hall has written her name in the history books after becoming the 2018 Ricoh Women’s British Open champion at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
England’s Georgia Hall has written her name in the history books after becoming the 2018 Ricoh Women’s British Open champion at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
The 22-year old from Bournemouth has never won on the Ladies European Tour or the LPGA before, but now adds her name to the Ricoh Women’s British Open trophy. Only the third British winner since the championship became a Major in 2001, Hall follows in the footsteps of Karen Stupples at Sunningdale in 2004, and Catriona Matthew at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2009. She’s also one of only five British major winners in history, and the only player to ever win the British Girls, Birtish Amateur, and British Open.
When asked whether she thought her first break-through would come at a major, Hall commented,
“No, not at all. I've always joked by saying I haven't really won -- if I win a major, it will be my first win, and I can't believe it's actually true. I don't think it's sunk in yet.”
Leading up to today’s final, Hall didn’t drop a single shot in the first 48 holes of the tournament. With opening rounds of 67 and 68, she kept a clean card until the par-4 13th, which saw her drop momentarily three shots off the lead. Battling back with three birdies and a bogey over the last four holes yesterday, Hall headed into the final round one-shot behind the leader, Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum.
Phatlum kept a narrow one-shot lead all the way until a birdie at the par-4 13th put Hall tied for lead. A brilliant second shot from 218-yards at the par-5 15th gave Hall a realistic chance for eagle, but a tap-in birdie as the putt for three just lipped out.
And then the real turning point came. Despite an errant tee shot from Hall finding the right rough, a cut 6-iron set up an outside chance of birdie. Phatlum meanwhile had problems of her own on the 16th, finding a greenside bunker but securing a par with a fantastic sand save. Another long birdie putt from Hall saw her lead the tournament outright for the first time during the final round by one shot.
A double-bogey at the 17th thwarted Phatlum’s chances of a major victory and gave Hall a 3-shot lead heading down the last hole, which could have easily been four had her 15-foot birdie putt dropped instead of shaving the hole.
A good up and down from the bunker at the last saw Phatlum finish her round at 2-under par and 15-under for the tournament, but it was too little too late for the Thai player. Hall, looking calm and collected the whole time, kept her nerve and hit a solid drive down the left-hand side, followed by another impressive shot with her trusted 3-iron.
“I just told myself to stay calm the whole way and not think about anything.”
With four putts for the win, Hall trundled her first two putts sensibly short of the hole, leaving herself a tiny tap in for the win and her first major championship victory. She closed Sunday’s round at 5-under par and 17-under par for the tournament.
It was an emotional finish at the end of the tournament, as Hall dedicated her win to her grandfather. She’ll now defend her title at Woburn next year.
With a surge of four birdies on the back-nine, So Yeon Ryu finished in third place at 13-under par. Sei Young Kim, Ariya Jutanugarn, and Mamiko Higa all finished at 9-under par to tie for 4th. 15-year old Atthaya Thitikul from Thailand was the only amateur to make the cut at the championships and collected the Smyth Salver and the Silver Medal, as won by Georgia Hall in 2013.
For full results, visit: www.ladieseuropeantour.com
Image credit: Matthew Lewis/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
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