Katie Stephens wins English Women’s Am on the final hole

Katie Stephens of Middlesbrough, England, defeated Shivani Karthikeyan of Peterborough in England, by 2 UP on the 36th hole to win the English Women’s Amateur Championship title at Seaton Carew in Durham, England.

Stephens, a junior at Charleston Southern, had a shaky start in the finals, when she lost her ball on the second hole, giving Karthikeyan advantage and was 2-down by the sixth hole. Stephens soon took over the lead by the 10th hole but soon lost it on the next when Karthikeyan holed a 25-footer for birdie on 11th.

Not a single hole was halved on the back-nine, while the lead changed hands over four times in the opening 18 holes.

Post break, they both were once again tied for the lead by the 27th hole. The pair halved the next four holes until Karthikeyan missed the fairway and Stephens’ par edged her ahead, and she got up-and-down on 15 to take a two-hole advantage with just three to play.

Karthikeyan, a redshirt sophomore at North Florida, pulled out her A game on the next two holes, where she posted two 25-foot putts - to win the 16th with a birdie and then halve the 17th with a par, heading to the final hole, trailing Stephens by 1 UP. On the final hole, Karthikeyan missed the fairway and had to take a drop, while Stephens played cautiously to seal a 2-UP win.

Stephens carded rounds of 70-73 (2-over 143) to secure sixth place in the stroke play section of the tournament. She then progressed through the match play rounds, defeating Alexandra Stevenson 1 UP in the Round of 16, Aaliyah Hryniewiecka-Irwin 3 & 2 in the Quarterfinals, and Ellise Rymer on the 19th hole in the Semifinals, before facing Karthikeyan in the finals.