MUIRFIELD, Scotland – After seeing a five-shot lead slip away in the final round, Ashleigh Buhai still managed to secure a first major title at the AIG Women’s Open.
Buhai kept her composure to defeat In Gee Chun – and the setting sun – in a playoff at Muirfield on Sunday for her first career victory in an LPGA Tour event.
With the light fading, the South African golfer hit a superb bunker shot on the fourth playoff hole to leave herself with a short money putt as Chun settled for bogey.
Buhai, 33, calmly rolled from less than 2 feet and then clutched her face in relief before being doused with water and other drinks by her entourage.
BY Max Schreiber — August 7, 2022 at 5:27 pm
In the history of golf, there are many iconic shots that have secured major victories. Ashley Bouhai already has one of them.
“I was surprisingly calm,” Buhai said of the bunker shot that clinched the win. “My caddy told me on the last one, I don’t want to brag, but she said, ‘Show them why you’re No. 1 in the bunkers this year.’” So, you know, she gave me the confidence. Maybe it has something to do with Muirfield and the South Africans and the bunker shots.
Ernie Els also won the Men’s Open Championship in a playoff at Moorefield in 2002 after a memorable bunker shot during the final round. It was the first time the AIG Women’s Open had been played at Muirfield, a club that didn’t even admit female members until 2019 after a vote two years earlier.
But Buhai made things much more difficult than they had to be.
She entered the final round with a commanding five-shot lead and was still three shots ahead before a triple bogey on the par-4 15th tied her with Chun.
Both players missed long shots on the 18th when they settled for a playoff after finishing at 10-under 274.
“I know there are a lot of people in South Africa with a lot of gray hair right now after that 15th hole,” Buhai said. “But I’m very proud of myself, the way I dug deep and held my own to get into this playoff.”
Buhai: AIG Women’s Open win ‘life-changing’
Full field results from the AIG Women’s Open
Buhai shot a 4-over 75 in the final round, while Chun carded a 70.
Hinako Shibuno of Japan, the 2019 champion, finished one stroke back in third place after missing a chip from just short of the green that would have made a three-shot playoff.
Chun struggled on the first two playoff holes, but her short game saved her both times.
On the first, Chun sent his second shot into the bunker while Buhai found the heart of the green. But the South Korean hit a near-perfect bunker shot to within a few feet of the hole to save the tie.
In the second, she had to make an 8-foot putt to stay in it after sending her second shot wide and then barely making it to the green with a chip from the tall grass.
Buhai almost won it on the third playoff hole, but her long winning putt pulled inches short of the hole.
For Buhai, the win more than made up for almost missing out on this 2019 British women’s championship, when she led the race at the halfway stage in Woburn but finished fifth.
“Forgive me, there will be a few tears,” Buhai said during the trophy presentation. “There’s obviously a lot of hard work and a lot of years of dedication that went into it.”
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