by Jeff Skinner
In the biggest surprise in major championship golf this season Mo Martin bettered a slew of major champions to capture the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
It is the 31 year old Symetra Tour veteran’s (six seasons) first LPGA Tour win and she did it with her greatest shot of her career.
It was a difficult day at Royal Birkdale as the wind challenged every shot and pars were to be cherished all day. Players struggled with what at times was a three club wind. Martin felt the sting of the Southport wind as she made two bogies in her first five holes. She steadied the ship and played solid golf as the leaders backed up.
Trailing by two shots as she stood over her second shot on the par five finishing hole she knew she needed something special to happen. She unleashed a purely struck three wood that hit in front of the green and looked like a possible albatross. The ball slowed at the hole and bounced off the flagstick settling six feet from the hole. Martin responded with a little dancing fist pump when her shot came to rest.
She calmly rolled in the putt for her first eagle of the season and a final round 72 and one under par for the championship. But with plenty of contenders still on the course she would have to wait an hour to celebrate her shocking victory.
Major champions Inbee Park, Shanshan Feng and Suzann Pettersen couldn’t muster a real charge and Martin’s 72 was the low round of the day and just enough to give her a one shot margin over Pettersen and Feng.
Martin, who was staying warm on the practice range, was in a state of shock as she was told she had won. “Is this real life?” Martin said as she tried to comprehend how far her career has come.
As her fellow LPGA players and friends showered her with champagne a smiling Martin said “Unbelievable sums it up. This is absolutely amazing. I was fully prepared to go into a playoff. I think I still need to be pinched. It’s absolutely a dream come true for me. It’s been the best week of my life.”
“From my dad teaching me hitting balls in the driveway to here is literally a rags-to-riches story.”
Yes, from rags to riches and the most unlikely major champion of 2014.
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