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It was a difficult situation and certainly a different feeling afterward. The last time Amy Olson finished second in an LPGA Tour event, she was crestfallen. For a few minutes on that warm, sunny afternoon in Évian-les-Bains, France, she put on a brave face that looked like it could crumble like a French crepe at any moment. Olson (above) had led every day of the 2018 Evian Championship. And through 71 holes, she appeared on her way to making her maiden LPGA victory a major. Then, on the final hole, she tugged a tee shot into the thick rough, gouged a wedge back into play, hit a third shot into the center of a tough green and three-putted for a double bogey, handing Angela Stanford her first major title.
There were tears back then, not right away but afterward. It was the kind of loss that leaves a mark, the kind that could break some players. But Olson continued to grind, knowing that her time would come. And in the windblown summer of South Australia, she came pretty darned close, this time posting the second-lowest score on Sunday at Royal Adelaide Golf Club to finish alone in second place at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, three strokes behind Inbee Park.
“I was really pleased with how I struck it,” Olson said after she closed with a 3-under-par 70 that was a test of patience and precision. “In the wind, you’re going to miss greens and I had some really good up-and-downs. Honestly, I could have gone lower.
“There are obviously putts that you look back on and you’re like, ‘I could have made that.’ But I made some really good saves to keep the momentum going. So, overall I’m very pleased with how I played this week.”
It’s not like Olson had a lot of momentum coming into the week. She had missed the cut in her first two starts of the season but made adjustments to her putting stroke during the second of those, the ISPS Handa Vic Open, before heading to Adelaide.
“I’m just pleased to have seen that really hold up under pressure,” she said. “So, that was a lot of fun and I’m just looking forward to this year. I think I’ve got some solid fundamentals and good stuff to build on. It’s a good momentum boost.”
Olson’s husband, Grant, is the linebackers coach at the couple’s alma mater, North Dakota State University, and the golfer was present when the football team won the Football Championship Subdivision national championship in January. There is nothing she would love more than to add another trophy to the mantel of their Fargo home in 2020.
Staff and Wire Reports