Monday

French Golfer Joanna Klatten's Memorable Maiden Win

Joanna Klatten Women's Victoria Open          photo: via iseekgolf.com
A first professional win is probably always going to be memorable, but there were a couple of things about Joanna Klatten's maiden victory that really set it apart.

It was the French player's first trip down-under.  She was in Australia for the Women's Victoria Open, and after a rather amazing bogey-free final round that included three birdies and an eagle, the one-time Georgia State Panther headed to the clubhouse with a two shot lead... and little doubt that the win was hers.  After all, the only threat was Haeji Kang of South Korea, and she was trailing by two halfway up the par-four 18th. 

But in golf... as in life... one must always expect the unexpected, and the unexpected certainly did happened yesterday at Spring Valley Golf Club. It came in the form of a last minute eagle by Kang,  which interrupted the slightly premature celebration going on in the club house.  A tense playoff ensued before the slightly tipsy French golfer did, in fact, lift the Victoria Open trophy. 

I'd say that definitely qualifies as memorable.

5 comments:

  1. Phew. She must have been relieved when that was finally over. I feel a bit sorry for Joanna's adversary though, her own spectacular eagle was for naught in the end. :\

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  2. Pretty & talented! With extra points for a French accent.

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  3. The French are going to be a major golf force to be reckoned with in the near future, no one who was at the Doral Publix Junior would argue with that. The playoff (16-18) was between two Frenchmen and there were a couple of other Frenchies in the top 20. Plus the fact that a government-backed mandate to grow the game was part of France's winning bid for Ryder Cup 2018.

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  4. Good for her, she's very deserving I'd say! Congrats Joanna!

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  5. Take this as my cue to mention my favorite female pro. Did you see not one, but two, features about Morgan Pressel this week on lpga.com ??

    One was about another hugely successful charity event she put on for her Foundation. The other was about her life in a new lpga.com feature "player of the week." It contains a slideshow of dozens of photos.

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