Ashleigh Buhai had never won on the LPGA Tour in more than 220 attempts. Although she had to wait a few extra holes Sunday, she finally broke through – and in a big way.
Buhai captured the AIG Women’s Open, the final major on the LPGA Tour, by making par on the fourth playoff hole at Muirfield Golf Club in Scotland.
She started the day with a five-shot lead but made a triple bogey on the par-4 15th and shot a 4-over 71 in the final round. She finished at 10 under for the week and was tied with In Gee Chun after regulation.
Chun, who had won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship earlier in the year, was looking for her second major of the season. After she and Buhai made pars on the first three extra holes (they played 18 each time), she made an unfortunate bogey after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.
Buhai landed in a greenside bunker but hit a nifty pitch to just two feet to save her par. With the sun setting behind her, Buhainailed the championship-winning putt.
Afterwards she looked up to the sky, shed a few tears, and got a massive hug from her husband. She became the second female major winner from South Africa and became the 44th golfer in the LPGA Tour’s history to make her maiden victory a major.
Buhai had won three times on the Ladies European Tour in her career, but not since 2018. Before her win at the Women’s Open her best-career major championship result came in 2019, when she finished fifth at the major.
Buhai was trending at majors coming into this week, however, finishing tied 21st at the Women’s PGA Championship and tied for 15th at the Evian Championship. She had two top-10 results this season prior to her breakthrough triumph at the Women’s Open.
Buhai won $1.095 million (U.S.) for the win. The week at Muirfield was a special one for the LPGA Tour, as this was the first time the storied course hosted the Women’s Open. It just, after more than 200 years, began to welcome female members of the club in 2019.
Hinako Shibuno finished at 9 under and was one shot back of the playoff.
Leona Maguire, Madelene Sagstrom, and U.S. Women’s Open winner Minjee Lee finished at 7 under and rounded out the top five.
Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson finished at 5 under and was tied for 7th. This marked Brooke’s first top-10 finish at the Women’s Open in her career!
Brooke’s results at major championships this season were excellent. She finished tied for 13th at the Chevron Championship, tied for 15th at the U.S. Women’s Open, tied for 16th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and of course, won The Evian Championship.
This was Brooke’s eighth top-10 result of the season.
She’ll be back in action on the LPGA Tour when it returns to Canada for the CP Women’s Open in Ottawa in a few weeks.
“It’s been really fun the last two months,” said Brooke. “Two wins and a lot of really good finishes… It’s just been fun and I feel like we’ve got it going right now so hopefully we can keep the momentum rolling at least for a little while longer.
“Golf is so up and down but right now we’re at a high and we’re just trying to ride it as long as we can.”