Ashleigh Buhai slept on the lead for two straight nights and on Friday, South Africa’s top ranked golfer completed her march to victory in the Jabra Ladies Classic at Glendower Golf Club in fine style.
The only player in the 77-strong international field to break the 200 mark, Buhai celebrated her 11th Sunshine Ladies Tour title – and 14th career win – with a winning total of 17-under-par 199.
The 30-year-old honorary member opened her campaign at the championship layout with a blistering 63 and retained the overnight lead with a 69 in the second round. She began the final day three shots clear of Stacy Bregman and four ahead of local fan favourite Casandra Hall.
Birdies at the first and third holes kept Bregman at bay and a third gain on the par four ninth took Buhai through the turn with a four-shot cushion.
Bregman managed to close the gap with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 and a Buhai bogey on the par five 13th reduced the deficit to two shots, but Buhai extinguished Bregman’s title hopes with a brilliant approach into par five 15th. After holing a confident 15-foot putt for three, she drained a 20-footer on the short 17th and closed out a five-shot victory with par at the last.
‘Obviously I’m thrilled with the golf I played over the last three days; to shoot 17-under in three rounds is pretty to good golf, even if I say so myself,’ said Buhai after her final round five-under 67.
‘Coming home after a top 13 on the LPGA Tour in Australia and then playing the kind of golf I did here shows that the work I’ve been doing with my coach Doug Wood is really paying off. I knew going into the final round that Stacy and Casandra were going to come at me. Although we had sunny weather the last two days, the course was still soft and you could fire at the pins.
‘The way I am swinging it, I just trusted what I was doing. They had to catch me. If I make a few birdies, they would have to make two or three more, so I felt very comfortable going out there.’
Buhai found the water on the par-five 13th but atoned for the lone bogey with a strong finish.
‘Stacy pulled it back after the turn, but I just continued to hit to the spaces I needed to. I stood on the 14th after the drop and thought if I made two birdies going home I’d be good. And I made an eagle and a birdie,” she said.
‘I had 194 metres to a tucked pin on the left and I went with a 5-wood. The ball was lying perfectly, just a little above my feet. I could trust what the slope would do and drew it into the flag. It came out perfectly. On 17, the pin was also tucked on the left but the wind helped off the right. It was a similar yardage to the second round. I hit a flighted 7-iron in and it held the line beautifully.’
Buhai enjoyed sharing another victory on home soil with husband David on the bag.
‘Dave and I don’t do this full-time anymore, because we want to stay married,’ she joked. ‘No-one knows my game better and there is no-one I trust more. It’s brilliant to celebrate another win with him. We almost have a full-house now. The only one I haven’t won is the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, because it doesn’t fit in with my schedule.’
Final Result
(All competitors RSA unless otherwise stated and amateurs are indicated AMA)
199 – Ashleigh Buhai 63 69 67
204 – Stacy Bregman 67 68 69
206 – Casandra Hall 70 66 70
211 – Jane Turner (SCO) 71 69 71
215 – Emie Peronnin (FRA) 75 68 72
216 – Nicole Garcia 69 74 73, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ) 71 71 74, Monique Smit 73 69 74, Kelsey Nicholas 68 73 75
217 – Mimmi Bergman (SWE) 69 78 70, Bianca Lohbauer (a) 73 72 72, Kim Williams 73 72 72, Rachel Rossel (SUI) 76 66 75
219 – Tandi McCallum 72 75 72, Kaiyuree Moodley (a) 74 71 74, Sharmila Nicollet (IND) 71 71 77
220 – Anna Magnusson (SWE) 76 73 71
221 – Sideri Vanova (CZE) 75 74 72, Hayley Davis (ENG) 77 70 74, Caroline Rominger (SUI) 71 75 75, Lenanda van der Watt 76 67 78
222 – Lauren Taylor (ENG) 76 74 72, Leticia Ras-Anderica (GER) 71 78 73, Larissa Du Preez (a) 75 73 74, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 75 72 75
223 – Lejan Lewthwaite 73 73 77
224 – Cara Gorlei 76 74 74, Woo-Ju Son (KOR) 75 74 75, Astrid Vayson De Pradenne (FRA) 74 74 76, Hannah Arnold (USA) 72 75 77, Michaela Fletcher 73 74 77
225 – Pasqualle Coffa (NED) 71 79 75, Zhen Bontan (NED) 72 78 75, Maria Beautell (ESP) 72 72 81
226 – Kiera Floyd (a) 74 76 76, Rachael Goodall (ENG) 74 74 78
227 – Florentyna Parker (ENG) 75 74 78
Photo: Heinrich Helmbold/Sunshine Ladies Tour/Gallo Images
