Hanako Shibuno – Smiling Cinderella’s Wishes all Come True

HANAKO SHIBUNO Smiling Cinderella’s Wishes all Come True at Woburn

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! 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 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.

While the Japanese player was giggling her way around the course, her manager Hiroshi Shigematsu was in the gallery glued to every shot. Hiroshi often wears different costumes to make Hanako smile and to keep her relaxed, on Sunday he wore a blue wig with a clown mask!

Prior to her win, Hanako already had sponsorship deals in place with Ping, RSK Sanyo Broadcasting, Beams Golf, Candeal, MIC Industries and Nike, and with her becoming only the second Japanese player, male or female, to win a major championship (after Chako Higuchi at the 1977 Women's PGA Championship), she and Hiroshi can now look forward to Japanese sponsors knocking down their doors in the coming weeks and months.

On her arrival back home in Japan, Hanako was welcomed at the airport by family, friends and over 140 journalists! In comparison, when Hannah Green arrived home in Perth after her breakthrough win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June there was one journalist waiting for her, and he didn’t even recognise her in the arrivals hall! We all know Japan is a golf-crazy nation, former LPGA star and world number one Ai Miyazato was treated like a rock star when she came home to play in Japan, and Hanako will now have to prepare herself for the adulation which will come with the win, her life will really never be the same again but on the flip side there will be many new doors which have already started to open. For example, Hanako now has the opportunity to take up membership of the US LPGA Tour if she so chooses. I am sure

she will take some time with her family and closest advisors to consider all of the options open to her now very carefully. It is a great opportunity but would be a massive move for her to go to the US to play there so early in her career. The win also takes the Japanese star to 15th in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings and makes her a favourite to represent Japan on home turf in August 2020 at the Tokyo Olympics. Tickets for the golf events in Tokyo sold out almost as quickly as they went on sale, the crowds will be massive and will be sure to create an amazing atmosphere around the treelined layout of the Kasumigaseki Country Club, just an hour outside Tokyo. At the moment it looks like it will be Minjee Lee and Hannah Green who will be Australia’s representatives in Tokyo, but with less than a year to go, Su Oh, Katherine Kirk and Karis Davidson will all consider themselves in with a chance but will need to play extremely well to dethrone Minjee and/or Hannah given their positions of 4 and 26 respectively. Of the Australians playing at Woburn, Minjee Lee bounced back to form after an uncharacteristic missed cut the week prior at the Evian Championship, Hannah Green continued her good form finishing 16th, while Victorian Su Oh shot a final round 66 to finish in a tie for 21st place. Sarah Kemp also made it through to the weekend but finished disappointingly in 70th place, while Karrie Webb, Whitney Hillier and Katherine Kirk all failed to make the 36-hole cut which fell at +1.

48TH SOUTH PACIFIC Ladies Open Classic

12-15 July 2020 at Surfers Paradise Golf Club. Womens & Seniors Championships

SUNDAY 12 JULY 2020 Mixed Foursomes 18 holes - 9.30am Shotgun start MONDAY 13 JULY – WEDNESDAY 15 JULY 2020 Classic, Womens, Seniors & Super Seniors OPEN CLASSIC DIVISION • Open • GA Handicap up to 16.5 • Best Gross & Nett each day + 54 holes WOMENS DIVISION • 18 – 54 years • GA Handicap up to 27.3 • Best Gross & Nett each day + 54 holes SENIORS DIVISION

• 55 years – 64 years • GA Handicap up to 27.3 • Best Gross & Nett each day + 54 holes **Field Capacity is limited to 130 players **Players may nominate in 1 Division only **Players with a GA Handicap of up to 27.3 are eligible to nominate in this tournament SUPER SENIORS DIVISION • 65 years + • GA Handicap up to 27.3 • Best Gross & Nett each day + 54 holes 48 th –SOUTH PACIFIC LADIES OPEN CLASSIC

Registration form & draw (when finalised) will be available on line at: www.surfersparadisegolfclub.com.au

SURFERS PARADISE GOLF CLUB 1 Fairway Drive, Clear Island Waters, Qld, 4226 phone: 07 5572 6088 surfersparadiseassociates@gmail.com