Shin Ji-yai holes out with sensational shot to claim her second Australian Open title as world No 954 Ryggs Johnston upsets home crowd to win the men’s event

Shin Ji-Yai has added another title to her already bursting trophy cabinet after the South Korean star claimed her second Australian Open title.

The 36-year-old took her 65th title on Sunday when she outlasted two-time defending champion Ash Buhai to win by two shots.

It was a tumultuous final round for Shin at Kingston Heath as she ended hopes of an Australian winner taking the title on home soil for the first time since Karrie Webb took the title a decade ago.

A double bogey on the second hole would have given Buhai a chance to catch up, but Shin corrected the mistake by holing out a rather sensational chip shot on the fourth hole to bag an eagle.

It was a stunning stroke, with Shin hitting from a sandy position to hole-out from around 102 yards.

But despite going into the turn on -3, Shin hit three bogeys in what was a nerve-wracking final five holes.

Despite this, her performances throughout the week were enough to halt the progress of Buhai and a chaser, ending her day at three under par.

“I’m glad I feel nervous because sometimes I miss feeling nervous when I play,” she said.

‘That means I really want it. So I had a good feeling about the nervousness of the past few months.’

Australia’s Hannah Green had had a solid first three rounds heading into Sunday, but in her bid to clinch the trophy she so desperately wanted, Green was reluctant to end her day at six over par, taking three bogeys and a triple bogey on her front nine. .

She ended her weekend T4 at six under and qualified alongside compatriot Kim Grace.

‘I’ve had such a good year, I don’t really want to dwell on my last round of the year, that I was here, Aussie Open, and I wasn’t in contention or even had a trophy. But yeah, overall I’m just really happy with how I tried to fight there,” Green said.

“Honestly, after she (Shin) made that gap, I felt like I was chasing second place between Ash (Buhai and herself), and she obviously had a really good lap, and that’s where I started back then. play worse.

“But two really nice people to play with and a very deserving winner,” Green added.

Johnston upsets the home favorites

Unknown American Ryggs Johnston crashed the party with a stunning and most unlikely win at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The world number 954 emerged from a big package of hopes to steal the Stonehaven Cup on Sunday with a nerveless final round four-under-par 68 at Kingston Heath.

More famous for being named after Mel Gibson’s Lethal Weapon character than for his golfing skills, Johnston finished three shots ahead of former amateur sensation Curtis Luck with a total of 18-under 269.

Amazingly, the win was the 24-year-old’s first in a four-round tournament since high school.

Johnston, known as “The Big Slick”, started the final round as equal leader with Lucas Herbert and continued his duties as the Victorian sentimental favorite to unravel.

Herbert repeatedly cursed the greens during his final two-over round of 74, eventually falling to fifth at 12 under, six shots behind Johnston.

The 28-year-old cruelly missed out on a place at next year’s British Open by two shots.

Instead, runner-up Luck and Herbert’s LIV Golf teammate Marc Leishman booked their tickets to Royal Portrush with coveted top-three showings.

Leishman drained a five-foot birdie putt on the penultimate hole in his final-round 69 to finish third at 14 under.

Jasper Stubbs also finished at 14 under, but the world number 1486 lost to 575th-ranked Leishman on a count-in for a trip to Northern Ireland.

Leishman, the 2015 British Open runner-up, has been unable to accumulate ranking points since defecting to the Saudi-backed rebel league and has not competed in a major since 2022.

Luck, once the world’s top-ranked amateur who lost his Korn Ferry Tour card in the US this year, returns to the big scene for the first time since his only appearance in 2017 when he finished 46th at the Masters.