Goodwood golf bosses delighted as Hall hits the big-time

Finishing the final round at Royal Lytham and St Annes on 17 under par, the 22-year-old was two shots ahead of her nearest rival, Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand. Hall had started the round one shot behind Phatlum, but a near perfect performance, with only one bogey, saw her pick up five shots and forge clear.

Dropping just three shots throughout the entire four-round competition, Hall was always in contention, but Phatlum proved an extremely tough opponent, leading overall for 54 out of the 72 holes played. Hall's calmness under pressure and ability to get herself out of the bunkers when most-needed meant she was able to capitalise on the few mistakes made by Phatlum and emerge victorious in front of a home crowd.

Talking to BBC Sport, Hall, from Bournemouth, said; "It is too good to be true. It was my goal when I was nine to win the British Open. I am so happy. I just had to stay calm and patient. It was very close up to the last two holes and I holed all the putts today. I was loving it deep down, hitting the shots under pressure.”

Hall dedicated the victory to her grandfather and was grateful to those closest to her for their part in the achievement. She said: "There's someone special at home who's going through a very bad time, so this is for you, Grandad. I'd also like to thank my dad for caddying. Thanks for doing everything for me when I was growing up, and to my mum. And to my boyfriend as well for supporting me."

The Golf At Goodwood player becomes only the third Briton to win the Women's Open since the event became a major championship in 2001.

Stuart Gillett, Golf At Goodwood general manager, said; “We are all absolutely thrilled for Georgia and her team. We’ve seen quite a bit of her this year when she has been back from the LPGA Tour and she is such a down to earth person, this really couldn’t be more deserved.

"Before the Scottish Open she filmed a piece for Sky Sports here, where six of our juniors got to spend a few hours with her learning different ‘links’ type shots – she was absolutely brilliant with them. She was so friendly and the juniors felt hugely inspired.

“It feels very similar to 2013 when Justin Rose won at Merion and was our ambassador. To see Golf At Goodwood on the Georgia’s bag again at the Women’s Open was fabulous and there has been lots of comments on social media about what a great Ambassador Georgia is. We are hugely proud of her incredible achievement.”

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