Minjee Lee
MELBOURNE, Australia (Feb. 16, 2014) --
Australia’s Karrie Webb has held on to clinch a
fifth ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open
title with a one stroke
victory at Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne.
The 39 year-old Queenslander finished at 12-
under par with a final round 4-under par 68 to
beat Korean Chella Choi who carded a 2-over
par 74.
“I feel very fortunate to have won today. But I
liked my chances at the start of the day
because of the wind picking up. If we had
another day like we had
the first three days, I probably was a little too
far back to have a chance, so I was thankful
for the weather changing and I played as good
as I have in a
very long time,” Webb said.
“I was hitting some quality shots early on and
I realised that I'd gotten into that mindset and
so I stayed on top of myself to make sure that
that's what I
did and never tried to hit a shot. I just played
the shot that the conditions dictated,” Webb
added.
It was a full scale turnaround from the events
of last week.
“It's amazing what happens, what a difference
a week makes. Obviously this time last week
I wouldn't be expecting to be sitting here, so
I'm glad things
changed around quickly for me,” Webb said.
The victory is Webb’s 52nd professional title
and comes with a US$180,000 winner’s
cheque.
For overnight co-leader Choi, a drive out-of-
bounds on the second hole caused trouble
early in the round.
“I went out of bounds on the right hand side
and that was a really big problem for me. It
was a hard game today. I didn’t like that part
but Karrie played so
good today,” Choi said.
On her first trip to Australia, American Paula
Creamer posted a final round 4-under par 68
to share third place with Kiwi Lydia Ko and
France’s Karine Icher
at 10-under par.
American trio Morgan Pressel, Amelia Lewis
and Stacy Lewis and Korean Jenny Shin
finished in a tie for sixth at 9-under par.
Australian Amateur champion Minjee Lee
finished in a tie for 11th place as the leading
amateur after slipping to a final round 78 in
the windy conditions but
Webb heaped praise on the 17-year old from
Perth.
“She's got more talent in her little finger than
I ever did at 17. She should hold her head up
high. She's played very well the last two
weeks, probably the
best out of anyone consistently the last two
weeks. She should be really proud of herself.
You'll definitely see a lot more of her,” Webb
said.
View results for Australian Women's Open
ABOUT THE Australian Women's Open
72 hole stroke play championship for professionals
and amateurs.
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