British Open champ Georgia Hall looked pretty solid through three rounds at the Cambia Classic in Portland but the pressure of the final round brought her down.
Just when American women’s golf has been hurting, in stepped Jersey-girl Alex Marina.
While Hall struggled on the front nine Sunday, all Alex did was shoot 30 on the front nine at Columbia Edgewater Golf Club to take control of the tournament. She went on to close with a sensational 65, good for a 19-under total that was four shots better than Hall.
Alex pulled the old 10-shot swing — beating Hall’s 75 by double digits.
The week got off to an incredible start for Alex after she shot a course record 62 on Thursday.
“Not a lot of experience to draw on,” Alex said with a laugh when asked how she got it done on Sunday. “The first day I played so incredible, so I knew it was in there. I was nervous on Friday and Saturday and it was sort of nice to have a hole to dig myself out of. My goal was to shoot eight under and I was seven under. It was an incredible day. I’m very proud of myself.”
It was a break-through first win on the LPGA Tour for the former Vanderbilt golfer who hails from Wayne, N.J. She’s the first player from Vandy to win on the LPGA Tour.
American wins have been few and far between this season but there were some good finishes on Sunday.
Megan Khang (10-under) finished solo fifth. Brittany Lincicome (eight-under) tied for sixth and Lexi Thompson had her best showing since her return from a month off. She finished seven-under and tied for ninth along with fellow American Robynn Ree.
