Golf Update: Katherine Hull wins the Navistar LPGA Classic.
Katherine Hull won the Navistar LPGA Classic that took place in Alabama on Sunday. She carded four birdies and finally made her way to the winning putt on the 17th hole. Hull terminated her week long labour at the Robert Trent Jones Trail Capital
Complex Senator Course as she finished with her third consecutive 5-under 67. Overall, her 72 hole finish was 19 under par 269. Not only did Katherine win, but also broke Lorena Ochoa’s record of the highest score in the tournament since Katherine only had
one bogey all week.
The final three rounds were completely bogey less and the 28 year old Australian had 4 birdies in her last nine holes. Her last round 65 really brought her close to the title, as the third round leader disappointed the crowd in the final round. Cristie Kerr
didn’t do so well by finishing at 72 and tying for third place with Na Yeon Choi. If she had won this tournament, Kerr would have gained enough points to be on first place in the Rolex player of the year standings. Brittany Lincicome also played well on the
last day as she posted a 65 and was one stroke behind the winner to finish solo in second place. Showing good sportsmanship, Brittany was the first one to congratulate Hull, as she ran onto the green and sprayed her with a victory beer.
Katherine plays on the LPGA tour and also on the ALPG Tour. She began playing golf when she was only twelve. She went to Pepperdine University in California where she was an All-American from 2002 to 2003. Hull was also awarded Player of the Year Award.
During her college time, she earned eight wins and graduated in 2003 with a degree in Sports Administration. Right after graduation, she turned professional. The first event, Hull won as a pro was the Aurora Health Care Futures Charity Golf Classic. Katherine
also tied for 42nd in the LPGA qualifying tournament in 2003 and hence attained a non-exempt status on the 2004 Tour. Katherine was also triumphant in two events in the ALPG in 2006. Juggling two tours at the time was something Hull was adept at
as she even got playing privileges for the LPGA Tour for 2007.
The winner’s performance wasn’t so well on Sunday when she wasn’t successful in shooting a birdie in the first eleven holes and also bogeyed the ninth. Winning this tournament, Katherine has now claimed her second career LPGA Tour victory. She had won the
Canadian Women’s Open in 2008 before. Earlier this year, she came second place to Yani Tseng at the Ricoh Women’s British Open and also had three runner-up finishes in Australia before the 2010 LPGA season started.
“It’s a little overwhelming, actually,” Hull said about the win. “It probably won't hit me until later. You just get so focused on executing and just finishing that you don't think about anything else. I'm definitely on a high right now, and
probably won't come down for a while.”
Ironically, the winning putt came right after one of the worst shots of the afternoon. Hull said that as she was walking to towards to the green, she was complaining. Being a good caddie, Vern Tess advised and motivated Katherine to do what she does best
and roll it in.
The winner could have achieved at birdie at the last hole but had a bogey instead. Hull thinks she played very well the whole week, but today she could have done better. She said that if one is ahead by three shots and is winning, she should try to do better
and hence win by a bigger edge. Even though the Australian was triumphant, she said that she wasn’t able to achieve the bigger margin and hence will learn from this experience.
Overall, the Navistar LPGA classic remained a very interesting tournament with all the players playing their best. Next on the LPGA Tour is the CVS Pharmacy LPGA Challenge that will start in California on October 14.
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