Georgia Hall's first pro win is a major - the

Ricoh Women's British Open by 2 shots
  

By RON SIRAK



  

What a major championship season this is proving for women's professional golf. An eight-hole play-off at the ANA Inspiration; four bonus holes at the U.S. Women’s Open and two extra holes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Today’s finale of the Ricoh Women’s British Open certainly lived up to that thrilling standard as Bournemouth's Georgia Hall won a dramatic duel with Pornanong Phatlum from Thailand  to become the first Englishwoman in 14 years to win the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

Hall won by two shots at Royal Lytham and St Annes and is only the fifth British winner of a women’s major, following Laura Davies, Alison Nicholas, Karen Stupples and Catriona Matthew.  

 

First place earned Georgia her biggest cheque as a pro - $US 490,000.
Hall, 22, had the home crowd on her side at Royal Lytham and St Annes, Lancashire. As she approached the 18th green with a three-stroke lead, love and pride poured out of the packed grandstands in front of the iconic clubhouse.
 No English player had won this championship since Karen Stupples started the final round of the 2004 event at Sunningdale, eagle, albatross.
Hall, who first got the attention of fans at last year’s Solheim Cup in Des Moines when she won two points, picked up her first LPGA win - the Ricoh WBO is on the LPGA circuit as well as the Ladies European Tour - as she closed with a 67 to finish at 17-under par 271, two strokes ahead of Phatlum and only two strokes shy of the tournament scoring record set by Stupples in 2004. 
South Korea's  So Yeon Ryu was third at 275 with compatriot Sei Young Kim, Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn and Japan's Mamiko Higa at 279. 
The day started with Phatlum at 13-under par and Hall one back, but everyone had their eyes on the penultimate group of Ryu and Sung Hyun Park, who were at 11-under and 10-under respectively. Both are double major winners, but both played their way out of it early, Ryu with a triple bogey on No. 3 and Park by playing Holes 4 through 7 six-over par, and it became clear that the championship was going to be decided in the final twosome. 
“I always joked that a major would be my first pro win,” Hall said. “I can’t believe it really happened. I played well today. I putted great,” she said in what was a major understatement. Georgia averaged 28 putts per round and was seven-for-seven in sand saves on the devilishly bunkered Lytham course.
After sizzling starts by both players in which Phatlum extended her lead to two strokes with four birdies in the first six holes while Hall made three, the two-woman match settled into a grinding war of wills. 
When Phatlum drove into the thick rough and could only pitch out sideways on No. 8 she made only her second bogey of the week and they went to the ninth hole with Hall again just one stroke behind. 
The lead stayed at one when Hall made a gutsy up-and-down from a bunker on No. 9 to save par with yet another crucial putt.
At the turn, no one other than Hall was closer than six strokes to Phatlum. Both players went out in 32.
Lytham is a classic links course that goes out and back, the first nine usually playing downwind with the closing nine into the wind or crosswind. The scoring holes are the first seven, and that’s exactly where Phatlum and Hall made their early hay.  
After Hall and Phatlum halved the first three holes of the back nine, the key stretch came when Hall made three birdies in four holes beginning on No. 13 and took a one-stroke lead when she rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 16.
Phatlum, who missed only 11 fairways all week, sealed her fate when she drove into a bunker on the difficult 17th hole and made a double bogey, giving Hall a three-stroke advantage going to the closing hole.
Still, Thailand has sent a strong message that it will be a force at the UL International Crown in South Korea this October. Jutanugarn has won three LPGA events this year, including the U.S. Women’s Open; her sister Moriya picked up her first LPGA win earlier this year and now Phatlum is on everyone’s radar screen. 
But, with her two-stroke victory, Hall hinted at a revival of English women’s pro golf, which has been in a bit of a rut. Hall will join Charley Hull, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Bronte Law on England’s team for the International Crown and the youthful exuberance and talent displayed by Europe in its losing effort at Des Moines speaks well for an intense Solheim Cup at Gleneagles  next year. 
But for now, this is Georgia Hall’s day. Playing with the hopes of a nation squarely on her shoulders and facing a foe, who for 70 holes was brilliant, the young Englishwoman was more than a measure of the task. It was a Hall of an effort and one well in the keeping with the brilliance of this LPGA major championship season.
+Picture of Georgia Hall with the trophy by courtesy of Getty Images

FINAL TOP THREE
Par 288 (4x72)
271 Georgia Hall (England) 67 68 69 67
273 Pornanong Phatlum (Thailand) 67 67 69 70
275 So Yeon Ryu (South Korea) 69 69 67 70

CLICK HERE for all the final totals

WOMEN’S AMATEUR ASIA-PACIFIC CHAMPION ATTHAYA THITIKUL WINS SMYTH SALVER

Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion Atthaya Thitikul picked up the leading amateur honours at the Ricoh Women’s British Open today.

The 15-year-old, who booked her spot at Royal Lytham following her victory in the inaugural Asia-Pacific women's amateur championship in Singapore in February, was awarded the Smyth Salver.

As the only amateur to make the cut (+1) with a score of even-par (73,71), Thitikul knew on Friday that if she completed all four rounds of the championship she would claim the title.

However, the Thai teenager struggled on the weekend posting rounds of 79 and 77 for a 12-over-par finish.

Thitikul now holds leading amateur titles from both major championships she gained exemptions for as part of her Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific win; in April, she recorded a tied for 30^th finish at the ANA Inspiration.
She was also invited to compete in the 2018 HSBC Women’s World Championship held at Sentosa following the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in March, where she recorded an impressive top ten finish (8th).
“I feel really proud of myself and very happy,” said Thitikul. I have really enjoyed this week and knowing I can make the cut. Last year I didn’t make the cut but this year I can!
“I have learned a lot through the experience and I take it all in to improve myself in the future.”

Looking at the names that adorn the Smyth Salver, including this year’s champion Georgia Hall, Thitikul said, “There are a lot of professional whose names are here and that’s where I want to be in the future.”