Ha Na Jang of South Korea shifted her game into overdrive down the stretch to win the Isps Handa Women’s Australian Open championship. Jang made an eagle, then rolled in a birdie on her last two holes to complete her run at tracking down first place at Royal Adelaide Golf Club. Jang had warmed up for her final flourish by making back-to-back birdies at holes 13 and 14. Her score total on the day was a 4-under 69 that allowed her to overcome a four-shot deficit and ease to a three-stroke victory. The South Korean’s tournament scores of 70, 73, 70, 69 added up to a 10-under 282 total, as she took home the $195,000 first-place check.
The triumph is her fourth career victory. Jang’s stat-line included 55 of 60 fairways hit and she was 60 for 72 in greens hit in regulation.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen ended up second
Second place went to Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen who fired an even par round of 73 on the final day. Madsen finished the event at 7-under 285 and earned a check worth $120,057. Third place was a four-way tie between Minjee Lee of Australia, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, Haru Nomua of Japan and Sarah Jane Smith of the U.S. They all landed on 6-under 286 and each banked $63,265.
Leblanc finishes T7
The Canadian contingent was led by Maude-Aimee Leblanc. The Sherbrooke, QC, native tallied up a total of 5-under 287 to come home in a seven-way tie for seventh place.
Leblanc dipped a bit during the final round when she shot a poor 2-under 75 to slip out of contention. She made $28,867. Next best was Alena Sharp of Hamilton, ON. Sharp closed T16 with a total of 3-under 289. She earned $17,221. Top-ranked Canadian at eighth overall in the Rolex Rankings, Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, ON, made the cut after a sparkling opening round score of 4-under 69, but that was followed by a brutal second day total of 4-over 77.
She held together well on the weekend to post a 2-under 290 total to end up T21 and made $14,592 for the event. Jennifer Ha of Calgary failed to get into weekend play after shooting scores of 75 and 78 during the first two days of the tournament.
