SPECIAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. WOMEN&aposS OPEN: LISTEN TO THE AUSSIES: FINAL ROUND Wendy Doolan: click here Katherine Hull: click here
SOUTHERN PINES, NORTH CAROLINA: Queensland&aposs Katherine Hull today notched up by far her best finish in a major, tying for 25th in the US Women&aposs Open. In five previous majors, 25-year-old Hull has never finished better than 50th. But here, she battled away and her score was never far from par, with rounds of 72 74 71 and 74 on the par-71 Pine Needles layout for a seven-over total. Hull hasn&apost won on the LPGA Tour and says her task now is starting to put herself in contention to win. “I&aposve got to start doing that in any event to give myself the right experience,” she said. “I treat majors the same as any other tournament. I&aposve still got to give 100 per cent every day and stick to my game plan. I mean, it&aposs golf. It&aposs not rocket science. “I&aposm learning every day. This is a dream job. I love it.” The only other Australian to make the cut, Sydney&aposs Wendy Doolan, faded after leading the Australian contingent, with a final round of extreme highs and lows. On the fourth hole, a short par 4, she holed out from the fairway with an eight-iron for eagle. But at the par-five 10th, she racked up a triple-bogey eight. Five other bogeys meant she finished with a 77 after earlier rounds of 73, 70 and 77, to be tied for 45th at 11 over par. “It was alright today, (but) I hit poor shots in the wrong spots and that&aposs what cost me,” she said. “I made a couple of big numbers and unfortunately I couldn&apost get anything else going. Both Hull and Doolan, however, will tee up in the year&aposs final major next month, the Women&aposs British Open. Australian-based Korean teenager Amy Yang had the experience of her life at the US Women&aposs Open, making the cut at her first major and tying for 50th, with rounds of 74, 72, 74 and 76, 12 over par. Yang, who won last year&aposs Australian Ladies Masters as an amateur, said she had struggled this week with her putting, but it had been the biggest tournament she had played in and was great experience. Later this month, Yang will head to Europe, where she has been playing a limited schedule as a result of her Ladies Masters win, to compete in the Evian Masters, co-sanctioned by the LPGA and Ladies European Tours. The following week, she will attempt to qualify for the Women&aposs British Open.