Brittany Lincicome and A.J. EathorneBernard Brault
http://local.globe.com/golfcan/2011/08/lincicome.flv
It's been almost four decades since a homegrown golfer won the CN Canadian Women's Open, but at least this year a Canadian will earn a slice of the title holder's cheque.
Brittany Lincicome of the United States is the new champion, and when it was all said and done the first person she celebrated with was her caddy and friend – former touring pro A.J. Eathorne of Penticton, B.C.
By that point, Lincicome was signing autographs behind the grandstand as the final group wrapped up on the 18th green.
"I looked at my caddy A.J. and I was like, 'Did I win?' And she was giving me the thumbs-up. … I had no idea, I hadn't looked at one leaderboard the whole entire day," said Lincicome, who overcame torrential rains and buffeting winds at Hillsdale Golf and Country Club to win her fifth career LPGA Tour event.
Indeed, Lincicome's second win since joining forces with Eathorne in June hails an evolution in her game.
"I'm growing as a golfer, I guess. If this [weather]had happened a couple of years ago I don't know how I would have handled it. … I was very, very patient, singing a lot of songs, was very chatty. I was having some fun," she said after chalking up a final round of two-under-par 70 for a 72-hole total of 13-under 275.
Victory through song and conversation? Really?
Since breaking into the LPGA in 2005 as a promising 19-year-old, Lincicome has enjoyed episodic success, and recently turned to a sports psychologist who encouraged her to be as talkative as possible with Eathorne, fellow players, even fans.
And to sing – in Sunday's case, tunes by country artist Jason Aldean.
"The more I talk, the better I play. … You only really need to focus 30 seconds over the shot that you're hitting and after that you let your mind go wherever it wants to go, and my mind tends to sing," she said. "And I'm not a good singer."
Though her first event with Eathorne on her bag had middling success – Lincicome was eliminated in the first round of a match-play event – their second ended with a trophy presentation at the Shoprite LPGA Classic.
On Sunday, Lincicome added another trophy and $337,500 (U.S.) to her winnings.
"We had two weeks off before Portland [the Safeway Classic]last week, and I told her I was going to fire her and rehire her back for Portland. So technically Portland was our first week back together and this week we've won. So we'll just have to keep firing her and rehiring her," Lincicome joked.
It's unclear whether their partnership has proved successful because they have fun, or whether the banter and jocularity are a function of winning – not that either of them cares.
"It's just so much fun. It's easy with Brittany," added Eathorne, a 10-year LPGA veteran who took a break from playing in 2008, and broke in to caddying with PGA Tour player Kris Blanks. (She also jibed: "You can see we're a little more on the humour side of things, I get fired every couple of hours.")
Eathorne said the win on Canadian soil was "awesome" and that, "I never won on tour myself, so it's kind of cool to say I've been involved in two wins already."
Lincicome, who began the day one stroke out of the lead, held it together in the rain and wind at Hillsdale, making three birdies on the front nine and surviving a white-knuckle back nine with just one bogey en route to her 70.
On Sunday, the 25-year-old Lincicome was able to outduel defending champion Michelle Wie, who briefly tied for the lead before finding a water hazard on the 16th hole and making a bogey to fall back to 12 under.
Lincicome had a stroke of good fortune on the final hole, earning a free drop after hooking her tee shot into the spectators' village that sits 15 or 20 yards off the left of the fairway.
"I was trying to get it back on the fairway and chip it up there and give myself a chance, and [Eathorne]talked me through it perfectly," she said.
After leaving her approach short of the green, Lincicome chipped to within two feet of the cup.
She will have heard the crowd's roar when Wie jarred a lengthy par-saving putt on the 17th.
But the defending champion and crowd favourite, who kept hitting drives into the rough on the back nine, got herself into yet more trouble by over-hitting her approach into the 18th hole.
By the time Wie's hopeful chip for birdie – and a share of the lead – came up short, Lincicome was signing autographs behind the grandstand.
Wie made her par to keep a share of second place with fellow American Stacy Lewis.
The players teed off four hours earlier than originally scheduled to avoid the worst of tropical storm Irene's leading edge, but most of the final round was nevertheless played in monsoon conditions.
The best Canadian result belonged to Jessica Shepley of Oakville, Ont., who finished the tournament at one under after a final round 74. Maude-Aimée Leblanc of Sherbrooke shot a final-round 80 after finishing the first three rounds at six under. Lorie Kane endured another difficult day, finishing with a 75 to sit at 3-over par. Lisa Meldrum of Montreal had the day's worst round, an 86, and finished last.
Jisoo Keel, a 16-year-old from Coquitlam, B.C., was the tournament's low amateur at four over.
It's an open question how low Lewis would have shot if the wet weather had held off – she was five under through 12 holes when the rains hit and was unable to master the conditions on the final six holes.
Lewis finished alongside Wie at 12 under.
Lincicome, Wie and Lewis – in addition to fourth-place finishers Cristie Kerr and Angela Stanford – will be part of the U.S. team at the Solheim Cup, women golf's answer to the Ryder Cup.
Ai Miyazato, whose name was atop the leaderboard after each of the first three rounds, got off to a bright start, birdying the first hole.
But then came a sequence of bogey-bogey-birdie-double bogey on the third through sixth holes, and the damage was done. The diminutive former world No. 1 from Japan quickly fell out of contention.
The third member of the final grouping, LPGA rookie Tiffany Joh, also had an eventful round, making two birdies on the back nine to get herself back to the 12-under score she had on the first tee.
But on the 16th hole, the tuque-wearing American three-putted to make a disastrous double-bogey that dropped her into a tie for seventh spot.
NOTES: Prior to the start of the final round, CN announced it had raised a record $2.1 million for the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation and the Ste-Justine UHC Foundation through the CN Miracle Match program. Since 2006, the CN Miracle Match campaign has raised $6.45 million for children's health.