Cape Town’s Ashleigh Buhai prevailed on American soil for the first time when she won the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Sunday in Galloway, New Jersey.
Buhai, 34, fired her second straight round of 65 to finish at 14-under 199 in the 54-hole event, winning for the fourth time worldwide in the past 12 months.
The reigning Women’s Open champion from last year at Muirfield, Buhai had five career Ladies European Tour victories to her name and one in Australia last year but had yet to win in the U.S.
“It’s definitely the best golf I’ve ever played in my career, but I think we’ve found a good balance,” Buhai said.
“I said I’m on the older side on tour nowadays, one of the veterans, but I think between everything I’m doing between my putting, working with a putting coach, my swing coach and the mental side, when I put them all together I know that I can compete and have a chance to win.”
Buhai, who entered the final round three shots off the pace, beat South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim by one stroke.
Kim had a chance to force a playoff if she eagled the par-5 18th at the Seaview Golf Club’s Bay Course, but her pitch shot came up short and she had to settle for a birdie that gave her a final-round 68 and pushed her to 13 under.
Buhai rolled in five of her seven birdies over her first eight holes, including a long putt at No. 5, to make a charge up the leaderboard. Her lone bogey came at the par-3 11th, but she rebounded with a birdie 3 at No. 14 and added a birdie on the last that ended up solidifying her winning score.
“Obviously I got off to such a good start, and the putt on 5 is a hallelujah,” Buhai said. “It’s like, those things need to happen for you to win, obviously. But at no point did I think it was mine until now, until it was really confirmed.”
Buhai said she had been frustrated with consistently contending but never winning on the LPGA Tour. There was nothing wrong with her swing, so she began working with a mental coach.
Now at the cusp of 35 on a tour dominated by players a decade or more younger, the South African is playing the best golf of her career.
“I was touted to be — I had a really good amateur career and was going to be the next best thing out of South Africa, but that’s — golf is just not like that all the time,” Buhai said. “I kept plugging away. I have a good support system around me, which I think is the most important thing.”
