Hot Green spoils Ardina’s title shot
Dottie Ardina hobbled with a one-over 73 and yielded the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout crown to Australian Hannah Green, who fired a record-setting eight-under 64 to beat Celine Boutier by one in Arkansas, USA Sunday.
Green razed the Mystic Creek Golf Club with eight birdies, completing her amazing comeback from seven shots down to snatch the title on a 54-hole total of 14-under 205.
Boutier shot a second straight 69 and finished with a 206.
Ardina looked headed for her maiden win on the Symetra Tour after shooting back-to-back 67s and seizing a three-stroke lead over Boutier head- ing to the final 18 holes of the $100,000 tournament.
But she bogeyed No. 2 for the second straight day and after regaining the stroke with a birdie on No. 4, the Filipina ace bogeyed Nos. 8 and 15 and needed to hole out with a bogey to card a 73 and salvage third at 207.
Chinese Yu Liu closed out with a 67 and ended up fourth with a 208.
The 20-year-old Green’s second win and the $15,000 purse shoved her from No. 6 to No. 4 on the Volvik Race for the Card money ranking, securing a spot on the LPGA Tour for the 2018 season.
“I really didn’t know what to expect. But this week is really great and it sets me up for next year (on the LPGA),” said Green, who started the final round tied for fourth and seven shots off Ardina.
She birdied Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 7 to bounce back into contention at seven-under overall. She then birdied Nos. 11 and 12 and capped her solid windup with two more birdies on Nos. 15 and 17.
So solid was Green that she missed just one fairway and two greens while finishing with 28 putts.
“My ball striking was definitely there today,” said Green. “Going bogey-free on this course means everything tied together, which was great.”