The shot into the greenside bunker. The shank out of it. And the double bogey that came of it, when all Nanna Koerstz Madsen needed was a par to make a playoff at last year’s Women’s Open. We offer this not to reopen old wounds, but to tell how she said she would heal.
“I’m really proud,” Koerstz Madsen said last August. “I had a chance all the way till 18, also on 18 fairway. So I haven’t even had a chance on the back nine on a Sunday yet, so I’m very pleased, and I now have a way to get there, and I just need to finish the last hole, as well.
“I’m really proud of what I’ve been working on, and I do believe that it’s going to come in the future.”
On Sunday, it did. And she finished on her last hole, too. Overcoming two bogeys over her final three holes in regulation at Siam Country Club, Koerstz Madsen birdied the first hole of a playoff with Xiyu Lin, then eagled the second to win the Honda LPGA Thailand for her first victory on the LPGA Tour.
“It’s amazing,” said Koerstz Madsen, who also became the first Danish LPGA winner. “It’s a dream come true. It was a crazy day; a lot of good things. It was actually fun playing the playoff with Janet at the end. I’m really excited to be standing with the trophy right now.”
Starting Sunday with a one-shot lead over Lin (who goes by Janet), Koerstz Madsen eagled the 1st on a 50-yard hole-out, birdied the 2nd, and she led by four shots after 15. But after 18, it was tied. On 16, Koerstz Madsen bogeyed, and Lin parred. On 17, Koerstz Madsen parred, and Lin birdied. On the par-5 18, Koerstz Madsen missed an 8-footer for par, Lin birdied from 4 feet, and they returned to 18 for the first hole of the playoff.
On extra hole one, Lin missed a walk-off eagle chip-in by about an inch.
“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous there,” Koerstz Madsen said.
On extra hole two, also on 18, Koerstz Madsen knocked a short iron to about 8 feet, rolled in the eagle putt, and she was a winner in her 93rd LPGA start. And about seven months since last year’s Women’s Open.
“My game is really trending in the right direction,” Koerstz Madsen said. “I mean, you can say that. I think I have more confidence with my game and myself. I believe that I can win out here, so that’s just what I been chasing for the last year.”
