Advertisement

Tearful Georgia Hall confident maiden victory on US soil can spark tilt at second major

Georgia Hall of England chips out of a bunker on the 18th green - Steve Dykes/Getty Images
Georgia Hall of England chips out of a bunker on the 18th green - Steve Dykes/Getty Images
Women's Sport Social Embed
Women's Sport Social Embed

Georgia Hall thinks the self-belief she gained from her first victory on US soil  will stand her in good stead when she attempts to follow-up her 2018 AIG Women’s Open success with a second major win in two weeks’ time.

Hall, 24, was in tears after beating South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai on the second sudden-death hole at the Cambia Portland Classic in Oregon on Sunday night.

Hall had started the final round five behind Mel Reid - her fellow Englishwoman who went on to finish fifth - but fired a brilliant 68, albeit with a bogey on the last, to tie Buhai on 12-under and from there grasps the £200,000 first prize.

She was in floods of tears afterwards, explaining what it meant to win again on a main tour after her glory at Lytham two years ago. “There was a lot of emotion, I just wanted to win again really badly, especially in America,” she said. “I’d never won over here; I find it easier maybe to win in Europe or Great Britain.

"It was amazing winning my first major and then I kind of had a kind of 50-50 year last year where my first half wasn't very good and my second half was good. So it's just taking one tournament at a time and not really focusing on too much in the future. But my goal this year was to win in America, and I'm really glad I've done that. I always knew it would maybe be harder, so for me to do it is a relief.”

Hall, who moves back up to world No 31, is taking this week off before playing in next week’s Shoprite Classic in New Jersey, which leads into the season’s third major, the Women’s PGA  at Aronimink, Pennsylvania.

“Yeah, definitely a lot of confidence that I can take into my next few events,” Hall said. “I know my game is in a very good place; I managed to kind of refigure myself after my bogey on the last to then get in a play-off, which was less than 10 minutes before I teed off again. This is my first actual play-off ever, so it was a bit strange. But, yeah, I'm glad I finished the job.”