Buhai kept her cool to beat In Gee Chun – and the setting sun – in a playoff at Muirfield on Sunday for her first career victory in an LPGA Tour event.
With the light fading, the South African golfer hit a superb bunker shot on the fourth playoff hole to leave herself with a short putt, while Chun settled for a bogey.
Buhai, 33, calmly rolled down from a height of less than 2 feet, then clutched her face in relief, before dousing herself in water and other drinks from her entourage.
BY Max Schreiber — August 7, 2022 at 5:27 pm
Throughout the history of golf, there are many iconic shots that have secured major victories. Ashleigh Buhai now has one of them.
“I was surprisingly calm,” Buhai said of the clutch shot that clinched the win. “My chair told me at the last one, I don’t want to brag, but he said ‘Show them why you’re No. 1 in the shelters this year.’ So, you know, it gave me confidence. Maybe it has something to do with Muirfield and the South Africans and bunker shots.”
Ernie Els also won the Men’s Open in a playoff at Muirfield in 2002 after a memorable shot during the final round. This was the first time the AIG Women’s Open had been played at Muirfield, a club that did not even allow female members until 2019 after a vote two years earlier.
However, Buhai made things much more difficult than they needed to be.
She entered the final round with a commanding five-shot lead and was still three moves ahead before a triple bogey at the par-4 15th put her level with Chun.
Both players missed the long birdie at the 18th as they settled for the playoff after finishing at 10-under 274.
“I know there are a lot of people in South Africa with a lot of gray hairs right now after that 15th hole,” Buhai said. “But I’m very proud of myself, the way I dug deep and kept myself in it to get into this playoff.”
Buhai: Winning the AIG Women’s Open is life-changing
Full field standings from the AIG Women’s Open
Buhai shot a 4-over 75 in the final round, while Chun shot a 70.
Hinako Shibuno of Japan, the 2019 champion, finished one shot back in third place after missing a chip from the green that would have made it a three-way playoff.
Chun struggled on the first two playoff holes, but her short game bailed her out both times.
In the first, Chun sent her second shot into a bunker while Buhai found the heart of the green. But the South Korean hit a near-perfect putt to within meters of the hole to save par.
At the second, she had to make an 8-foot bogey to stay in it after sending her second shot wide and barely making it to the green with a chip from the tall grass.
Bouhai nearly won it on the third playoff hole, but her long game-winning putt missed the hole by inches.
For Bouhai, the win made up for something she nearly missed out on at that 2019 Women’s British Open when she led the event at the halfway point in Woburn but finished fifth.
“Forgive me, there will be a few tears,” Bouhai said during the trophy presentation. “There’s obviously a lot of hard work and a lot of years of dedication to it.”
