First crown in six years! Stamford Reverses to Win the Evian Championship with Feng Shanshan T44
On September 16th, Beijing time, American veteran Angela Stanford finally reversed and won the Evian Championship after experiencing later ups and downs. This is her first personal Grand Slam championship, ending her six-year championship drought and winning a championship prize of $577500.
Angela Stamford, who is 40 years old and 15 days old, played 68 consecutive strokes over the weekend at Evian Resort, hitting 272 strokes (72-64-68-68), 12 strokes below par, and narrowly won her fifth LPGA championship of her career. Her championship also prevented American female athletes from returning empty handed in this year's Grand Slam.
"God is very interesting," Angela Stamford said. "When you feel like you're done, he suddenly favors you."
When American compatriot Amy Olson entered the last hole, she was one stroke ahead of Angela Stamford. However, on the green, she made three putts and swallowed a double bogey, ultimately missing LPGA's first victory by one stroke.
Amy Olsen hit 74 strokes in the following round, tied with Kim Seok ying (72 strokes), Austin Ernst (68 strokes), and Mo Martin (70 strokes) in second place, with a score of 273 strokes, 11 strokes below par.
Li Jing'en, the winner of the women's Korean tour prize money, hit 69 strokes, and another American player Ryan O'Toole (69 strokes) hit 274 strokes, 10 strokes below the standard, tied for sixth place.
Chinese athlete Feng Shanshan's performance in the second round was not outstanding enough. She caught 2 birds, swallowed 4 bogies, and hit 73 strokes, with a score of 286 strokes (73-71-69-73), 2 strokes above the standard, tied for 44th place.
After Angela Stamford won the championship, she was emotionally excited, partly because the championship was hard won. At the beginning of today, the American veteran was tied for fifth place, actually trailing Amy Olson by five strokes. But the 15th hole, Par 5 hole became the turning point. That hole, she hit the green with the second seventh wood, leaving a 12 foot eagle push, and she took it without hesitation. Amy Olson set off after her, but swallowed a bogey on the 14th hole, par three, and the two players drew with a score of 13 below par.
I didn't want Angela Stamford to make a mistake and immediately swallowed a double bogey in the following hole. The drama didn't end. On the 17th hole, she pushed in a 20 foot bird and happily regained her fist, but she was still one shot behind. Coming to the 18th hole, she thought she needed a little bird to catch up with the lead, but her 18 foot little bird pushed and brushed past the hole cup.
"I know myself very well, and I have done many foolish things," she said. "But deep down, I am a fighter, I am very capable of grinding people, and I always do so. I keep telling myself that you need to be good at yourself. Maybe you are not good at some things, but now you need to be good at yourself, you need to fight."
Angela Stamford's fate has now fallen into someone else's hands. Amy Olson clearly gave her a chance, and her one shot to win the championship was 20 feet over the hole, which only allowed her to play in the playoffs.
Similarly, starting from the latter group, Mo Martin and Jin Shiying did not enter the hole with the long push of the birds chasing after Ping An Jila Stamford. In the end, Amy Olson also missed it. Considering that Amy Olsen was in a leading position for most of the day, this mistake clearly left many regrets.
Amy Olsen stated that although starting from the latter group, she was not particularly nervous, and her major mistake was just the latter hole. "Until I entered the long grass - when I had to decide whether to attack or defend - I actually didn't know where I was. I asked Nathan, 'Where am I?' He said I was one shot ahead, so I thought I should go straight to the green."
Amy Olson said her shot on the green was good, but the first push was too aggressive. "I'm disappointed it ended like this, but this week has been great," she said.
This is Angela Stamford's first victory since the 2012 HSBC Women's Championship. When she was interviewed, she choked up for a moment, especially when talking about her mother, because her mother had cancer. "I think she will be the first person to drink from the trophy," Angela Stamford said passionately.