Singapore: Australian Emily Mahar survived a three-hole play-off to win the Golfweek Caledonia Amateur and return to the top-100 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Mahar faced off against American Caroline Curtis after the pair tied on eight-under 208 at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina.
Mahar, who closed with a five-under 67, prevailed with a par at the 18th when the pair returned there for a third time.
“Sometimes I may feel like I’m taking too much time off, but it just proves that I have a good balance right now,” said Mahar, who attends Virginia Tech University.
“I can take the time off to focus on school and the other things that I need to and then when it’s time to golf, it’s time to focus on golf. I think it just really reassures me that what I’m doing is working.”
With her victory, Mahar rose 24 places on the WAGR to 81st, three spots outside her personal best.
She is the fourth highest Australian-ranked player in the standings behind Gabriela Ruffels (ninth), Grace Kim (47th) and Cassie Porter (62nd).
Chinese Taipei’s Hou Yu-chiang remains in second place, narrowly trailing American Rose Zhang, this year’s US Amateur Championship winner.
In the men’s standings, Japan’s Takumi Kanaya strengthened his hold on first place, despite missing the half-way cut in the US Open.
Kanaya failed by just one stroke to make it into the final two days at Winged Foot Golf Club, but extended his WAGR advantage over second-place Ricky Castillo of America and third-placed Yu Chun-an of Chinese Taipei, who also missed the US Open cut.
The only one of 13 amateurs to make the cut at Winged Foot was John Pak. The 21-year-old Florida State All-American ended equal 51st. He climbed one spot to seventh on the WAGR.
