England’s Sophia Fullbrook overcame a remarkable roller coaster of emotion and drama on the final day to win the 2022 English Girls’ Open Amateur Championship on Thursday at Wilmslow Golf Club near Manchester.
At halfway, the Melbourne Golf Club member trailed Ireland’s Rebekah Gardner by just one shot and, as a consequence, played both the final day’s two rounds with the pace-setter. But, when Gardner posted a superb third-round 65 and Fullbrook could respond only with a 74 to fall 10 shots back, she might have been forgiven for feeling like something of a final-round gooseberry.
Instead, she dug deep, completed the front nine in just 29 blows (with five birdies and an eagle), and eventually signed for a sensational 10-under-par 62 and 13-under 275 total for a two-shot victory over her playing competitor. Fullbrook’s compatriot Olivia Lee was solo third, five shots back of the luckless Gardner.
“It feels insane,” Fullbrook said. “I knew I had to go low, and the birdies just kept coming. It was a bit more stressful coming down the back nine, so I was trying to do my best to hold myself together, and I kept trying to chase it as much as I could.”
When the winning putt dropped, Fullbrook was mobbed by her ecstatic and astounded England teammates before Chris Pascall, England Golf’s president-elect, presented her with the trophy exactly 50 years after she had lifted it in triumph herself.
RESULTS
In the English Boys Open Amateur Championship at Silloth on Solway Golf Club in Cumbria, Dylan Shaw-Radford chased down the third-round leader, and his playing competitor, Niall Shiels Donegan to lift the Carris Trophy and complete the seasonal double of English and Scottish Boys’ titles.
Heading into Friday’s final round, Englishman Shaw-Radford was one adrift of Shiels Donegan. Shaw-Radford made two errors to the turn, but atoned with three birdies and an eagle to creep two shots clear. A bogey-free 3-under back nine kept the Scot, based in California, at bay.
After signing for a final-round 67 and a championship total of 15-under 273, Shaw-Radford said: “I’ve beaten a lot of good people this week from different countries as well as England, so it feels very good. There was only ever one or two shots in it the whole back nine, and it was quite nervy coming in. I think winning the Scottish did help as I knew roughly what I needed to do.”
The 17-year-old’s name has been added to a roster of winners that includes Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose, Sandy Lyle, David Gilford and Ken Brown.
Italy’s summer of amateur success continued. Following on from Filippo Celli’s European Amateur Championship and Open Championship Silver Medal double, Marco Florioli and Filippo Ponzano shared third place. Florioli thrashed a course-record 9-under-par 63 in the third round despite making a double bogey at the par-4 fourth. And Scotland’s Cormac Sharpe posted aces in consecutive rounds at the ninth and the 16th holes.
Great Britain and Ireland claimed the first St Andrews Trophy to have been played since 2018, defeating the Continent of Europe, 14½-10½, on Friday at Penati Golf Resort in Slovakia.
The visitors led 8-4 after the first day and stretched further clear in the final morning foursomes before the home team launched a comeback in the afternoon singles.
Scotsman Calum Scott clinched the winning point after Ireland’s Mark Power and England’s Arron Edwards-Hill top-scored with 3.5 points apiece, leading GB&I to its first St Andrews Trophy victory since 2016.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said. “The St Andrews Trophy is a special event for me and the guys. It’s been a while since it came back to GB&I.”
Staff and Wire Reports