One stroke for victory
22 August 2008
The pool room might well end up sans-pool table if Sunrise Beach golf pro Katherine Hull is going to squeeze in the massive mug she won on Monday.
At the very least, the trophy cabinet will need upsizing. Hull won the silverware, and a $390,400 cheque, at the Canadian Women’s Open, turning a six-stroke overnight deficit into a single-stroke victory to post her first career win on the LPGA Tour.
Her previous best finish on the Tour was a second place, at the 2005 edition of the same tournament, held then at Nova Scotia. Having overnight leader Yani Tseng, of Taiwan, implode and shoot a five-over 77 helped Hull’s cause as the 26-year-old turned in a final-round 69 to beat American Se Ri Pak by a single stroke.
Hull carded a total 277, 11 strokes under par.
Hull played a flawless opening nine holes, birdying the third, eighth and ninth holes to turn at three-under.
A bogey on the 10th was the only hiccup, and was offset by a birdie on the par-four 14th.
Having started the day well off the pace, Hull said she took to the Ottawa Hunt and Golf club under very little pressure.
“I just went out there and I was going to give it my best,” Hull said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic right now.
“They always say once you win once, it’s like getting the monkey off your back.
“I felt very confident at the start of the year that I could win. I’ve put myself in position a couple of times (with two top-10 finishes).
“It’s just finally nice to actually close the deal.”
The victory is a far cry from Hull’s 2006 season when she lost not only her Tour card, but a fair wad of cash as she paid her way through the second tier Futures Tour.
“It was a great learning curve for me and taught me a lot of things about myself and as golfer and as a person,” Hull said.
“I got through Q-school at the end of 2006 and Steve (McRae, Hull’s coach) caddied for me at the start of 2007. That was a turning point.
“He basically helped me turn a corner and realise you have to set goals and figure out what you want to do.
“(He said) you’ve got the talent to do it. You’ve just got to figure out whether you want to do it.
“It has taken a lot of hard work in the last 18 months with him.
“It was nice to see the hard work pay off and hopefully this is just the start of many great things to come.”
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