HANAKO SHIBUNO
Smiling Cinderella’s Wishes all Come True at Woburn
On August 4, Japanese LPGA Tour rookie Hanako Shibuno, known in her homeland as the "Smiling Cinderella", took the golfing world by storm when she claimed a surprise win at the AIG Women’s British Open title at Woburn Golf Club.
T
he virtually unheard of Hanako, a Japanese rookie who was competing in her first major championship and also her very first tournament outside of her home country, was given little chance prior the tournament by the golfing media and those ‘in the know’. However, had we all looked just a little more closely, there were definitely some signs there which indicated that Hanako’s win in the end should not have been considered such an upset result. She had already won twice on the Japan LPGA Tour in her rookie season in 2019, and by virtue of her great play already this year had come into the tournament ranked 44 on the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, higher than American stars Christie Kerr and Morgan Pressel, Swede Anna Nordqvist and Aussies Su Oh and Katherine Kirk, players all considered in with a chance of winning at the start of the week. Still, most thought what are the chances of a rookie player winning a major championship at her first ever attempt when she has never even played a tournament outside of Japan? Clearly for Hanako they were very good! The 20-year-old played the final round of the tournament alongside South African Ash Simon, and overcame a four-putt double-bogey
54
Ladies GOLF Summer/Autumn 2019/20 • ISSUE 26
on the third hole to card a closing 68 and finish 18-under par, in the end finishing a shot clear of American Lizette Salas, who had left the crowd around the 18th green stunned after she lipped out from about a metre for birdie on the 72nd hole. Just minutes after Salas’s short miss, Hanako stood over her putt for the championship and clearly was not about to die wondering, her birdie putt from three metres hit the back of the hole at speed and nose-dived straight into the cup. The winner raised her arm in triumph, before laughing and celebrating with her Japanese caddy, she had defied the odds and beaten the world’s best, some of them on their very own turf. The 20-year-old from Okayama was now an LPGA tour winner and a major champion. While Hanako looked like she was having an absolute ball on the course, laughing and high-fiving with spectators on the way round, she later told Sky Sports Golf through an interpreter: "I'm nervous now that I've won and I still feel like I'm going to vomit!” Hanako added "I was talking to the caddie over the second shot saying if I were to shank this, it would be very embarrassing," a comment which would leave sports psychologists all over the world shaking their heads! www.ladiesgolfmagazine.com.au
