American Korda wins Australian Open in playoff

American golfer Jessica Korda completed one of sport’s most extraordinary doubles when she claimed the Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.

The 18-year-old blonde beat off five of the best players on the LPGA Tour to emerge at the top of a six-way play-off.

Korda rolled in a six-metre birdie putt on the second extra hole to clinch the title in the co-sanctioned event.

Her father Petr won the 1998 Australian Open tennis title - but Jessica said that given it’s now 2012, she has “definitely” claimed bragging rights.

She felt “overwhelmed” with her win and spoke immediately by phone to Petr who told her of his pride.

In a sense, Korda’s task was made easier the second time around on the 18th after pushing her approach shot to the back of the green in a similar spot the first time. “I was thinking really clearly,” Korda said.

“I was really calm. I knew what the putt did because I had it before and it didn’t move.

“I knew the line and I knew the speed and all I had to do was just hit it.” Earlier, though, when she bogeyed three holes in a row on the back nine to lose the outright lead, she was not so confident. “I said to myself, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

“I was flipping out and just not reading my putts correctly.”

But her Victorian caddy for the week, Simon Clark, convinced her not to give up - and her birdie at the 17th proved crucial. Six players finished the tournament at three under the card - Korda, Koreans Hee Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu, Americans Brittany Lincicome and Stacy Lewis plus Paraguay’s Julieta Granada.

All six parred the 18th the first time around and returned to the tee. Ryu, the US Open champion, dropped out with a bogey at the second play-off hole and only Korda could manage to birdie, taking her first LPGA crown. Korda began the day with a one shot lead and increased it to two with three early birdies.

But a double-bogey six at the ninth and four more dropped shots after the turn halted her run until a birdie at the 17th brought her back into contention at three under.

As the two Koreans both dropped shots with bogeys on the final hole, the four players a shot behind them were brought into the play-off.

The last US Tour event with six players in a shoot-out was the 1999 Jamie Farr Classic, won by Korean star Se Ri Pak.

World No.1 and defending champion Yani Tseng produced a brave fightback after being treated by a doctor for abdominal pain before teeing off.

The Taiwanese had dropped four shots by the seventh but regained them all with birdies, including four in six holes on the back nine, ending her tournament defence with a 74 to be one under par for the event.

Canberra’s Nikki Campbell, who was second overnight, started steadily with three straight pars before stumbling with a double bogey at the sixth where she hit her approach shot into a trap. Campbell and fellow Australian Sarah Kemp were tied for 12th at one over, while four-time champion Karrie Webb battled through another disastrous day as she tried to fine-tune swing changes.

Webb was six over par at the start and dropped seven shots as she closed out an ugly final round 80 to finish 13 over and in joint 56th place.



Lydia Ko, the 14-year-old New Zealand schoolgirl who won the recent NSW Open, was in a share of 18th place among the high-class international field and collected the medal for leading amateur.

Playing with American Angela Stanford, Ko finished three over par for the tournament - and four shots better than the World No.17.