Karrie Webb has continued her late-season resurgence, charging through the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open field with a superb closing 64.
The Queensland veteran, who at times this year has struck the ball as well as ever without making a putt, finally tamed the flat stick at Priddis Greens in Calgary – and with enormous effect.
Although she couldn’t dint runaway champion Ariya Jutanugarn’s stranglehold on the tournament at -23, Webb showed signs she’s still a force to be reckoned with as the LPGA Tour season winds towards its season-ending championship.
The 41-year-old showed no signs of what lay ahead when she parred the first five holes of her final round, having started at seven under par, too far back to challenge Jutanugarn at -17.
But birdies at the sixth, eighth and ninth were the forerunners of one at the 12th and then five more in succession from the 14th to close out the day’s best round and vault Webb all the way to T5 at -15.
After her third place at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open in Adelaide in February, it matched her season’s next best finish, which she achieved at her most recent start in the Women’s British Open.
It moved her up to 40th on the LPGA Tour’s Race to the CME Globe standings and likely will have her back inside the top 40 once the world rankings are updated this week.
Of the other Aussies in the field in Canada, Minjee Lee carded a flat 75 to finish at seven under and a tie for 35th, while fellow Olympian Su Oh closed strongly with a 68 to reach five under and a tie for 44th.
Queenslander Sarah Jane Smith continued her recent good form with another cheque, this time for T54 after a closing 70 to reach three under.
Remarkably, it was Jutanugarn’s fifth win of the season, a campaign she began without a single win on the LPGA Tour.