Hall falls apart, but Hull and Law keep flag flying
IT MIGHT take four rounds to win a major but one destructive hour was all it took for Georgia Hall to see her title slip away at the AIG Women’s British Open yesterday.
Standing on the ninth tee during her third round, there was no hint of what was to come.
To that point it had been a continuation of the progress made over the first two days, as the 23-year-old from Bournemouth remained firmly in contention.
But annoyed after missing a birdie putt at the eighth, she knocked her drive into the bushes at the ninth and thereafter it all started to unravel.
Over the first 44 holes she had had just one bogey, but a double at the ninth was followed by two more dropped shots at the 12th and 13th.
That was all it took. The dream was over.
Hall rallied with a birdie at the 17th but it all added up to a bitterly disappointing 74, and it needed a consoling hug from her caddy and father, Wayne, to rally her spirits.
There was better news concerning the other two English players in contention.
Woburn member Charley Hull rallied from a poor front nine played in two over with four birdies in a blistering five-hole spell.
At the halfway point of her round Hull had stood 10 off the lead but her recovery coincided with a collapse by then-leader, South African Ashleigh Buhai.
Now Hull will begin the final round today five back after coming home in 32 strokes for a 70.
‘I didn’t think I played that badly on the front nine so it was just a case of trying to stay patient,’ she said. Meanwhile, Bronte Law also struggled on the greens as she missed putt after birdie putt.
But again she made a move on the back nine for a 70 that has left her on the same mark as Hull.
Remarkably, on the tricky Marquess course, the 24-yearold from Stockport has still to drop a shot.
‘That’s good, but I’m certainly going to have to hole a few more putts in the final round to win,’ she said.
‘I just struggled with the pace of the greens and left a couple of birdie putts in the jaws of the hole.’ Buhai’s tough back nine — she dropped three shots in a five-hole spell — means the leader is now 20-year-old Hinako Shibuno from Japan, playing in her first major. She took full advantage of Buhai’s difficulties with a fabulous back nine of 30 for a 67 and a two-stroke lead.
Shibuno (above) is known as the ‘smiling Cinderella’ back home and there will certainly be plenty to smile about if she completes her own victory fairytale.
The favourite, though, has to be world No1 Jin Young Ko, who is trying to join a select group of players including Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods and Inbee Park to win three majors in the same season.
The 24-year-old had a bogey-free 68 to move to within four of the lead.
World No2 and fellow-Korean Sung Hyun Park is three shots adrift.
One thing is for sure: if the trophy is to remain in England, Hull or Law will have to dig deep today.