39-year-old Queenslander's 52nd victory as a professional

                             Cup of joy for Karrie Webb in Melbourne

WIND BLOWS KARRIE WEBB TO FIFTH 

AUSSIE OPEN TITLE BY ONE STROKE

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NEWS RELEASE:

Australia’s Karrie Webb has held on to clinch a fifth ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open title with a one-stroke victory at Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne.

The 39-year-old Queenslander finished at 12-under par 276 with a final round 4-under par 68 to beat South Korean Chella Choi who carded a 2-over par 74.

“I feel very fortunate to have won today. But I liked my chances at the start of the day because of the wind picking up.  If we had another day like we had the first three days, I probably was a little too far back to have a chance, so I was thankful for the weather changing and I played as good as I have in a very long time,” “I was hitting some quality shots early on and I realised that I'd got into that mindset and so I stayed on top of myself to make sure that that's what I did and never tried to hit a shot.  I just played the shot that the conditions dictated,” Webb added.It was a full scale turnaround from the events of the previous week in Queensland, when she was disqualified for signing for an incorrect score.“It's amazing what happens, what a difference a week makes.  Obviously this time last week I wouldn't be expecting to be sitting here, so I'm glad things changed around quickly for me,” Webb said.
The victory is Webb’s 52nd professional title and comes with a US$180,000 winner’s cheque.
For overnight co-leader Choi, a drive out-of-bounds on the second hole caused trouble early in the round.
“I went out of bounds on the right hand side and that was a really big problem for me. It was a hard game today. I didn’t like that part but Karrie played so well today,” Choi said.
On her first trip to Australia, American Paula Creamer posted a final round 4-under par 68 to share third place with Kiwi Lydia Ko and France’s Karine Icher at 10-under par.
The American trio of Morgan Pressel, Amelia Lewis and Stacy Lewis as well as South Korean Jenny Shin finished in a tie for sixth at 9-under par.
Australian amateur champion Minjee Lee tied for 11^th place overall as the leading amateur after slipping to a final round 78 in the windy conditions but Webb heaped praise on the 17-year old from Perth, West Australia

“She's got more talent in her little finger than I ever did at 17.  She should hold her head up high.  She's played very well the last two weeks, probably the best out of anyone consistently the last two weeks.  She should be really proud of herself.  You'll definitely see a lot more of her,” Webb said.Norway's World No 2 Suzann Pettersen, after being up with the leaders with opening rounds of 66 and 68, collapsed most uncharacteristically with third and fourth rounds of 72 and 80 to finish well down the field.

FINAL TOTALS  
par 288 (4x72)
276 Karrie Webb (AUS)  71 69 68 68
277 Chella Choi (SKOR)  70 71 62 74
278 Paula Creamer (USA)  68 69 73 68, Karine Icher (FRA)  69 68 70 71, Lydia Ko (NZL)  68 68 69 73

279 Jenny Shin (SKOR)  74 67 66 72, Morgan Pressel (USA)  69 68 70 72, Stacy Lewis (USA)  71 69 70 69, Amelia Lewis (USA)  71 67 69 72

280 Gerina Piller (USA)  75 69 68 68

281 Minjee Lee (AUS) (amateur) 68 67 68 78, Jessica Speechley (AUS)  71 67 70 73, Azahara Munoz (ESP)  68 70 73 70, Mi Hyang Lee (SKOR)  72 67 68 74

282 Sarah Kemp (AUS)  71 68 71 72, Perrine Delacour (FRA)  70 73 65 74, Caroline Hedwall (SWE)  68 65 74 75, Trish Johnson (ENG)  70 73 68 71

283 Sandra Gal (GER)  73 69 72 69, Giulia Sergas (ITA)  68 71 72 72, Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED)  70 68 71 74, Jessica Korda (USA)  67 70 72 74

284 - Cheyenne Woods (USA)  74 65 71 74, Holly Clyburn (ENG)  68 68 71 77

285 Becky Morgan (WAL)  70 74 69 72, Amy Anderson (USA)  72 70 68 75, Mirim Lee (SKOR) 74 68 72 71

286 Rebecca Lee-Bentham (CAN)  73 69 67 77, Brooke Pancake (USA)  70 70 71 75, Carlota Ciganda (ESP)  68 70 72 76, Hannah Burke (ENG)  72 72 68 74, Lorie Kane (CAN)  71 71 69 75, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  70 69 68 79, Suzann Pettersen (NOR)  66 68 72 80, Caroline Masson (GER)  72 68 69 77, Hee Young Park (SKOR)  67 77 70 72, Beatriz Recari (ESP)  72 69 74 71, Dori Carter (USA)  70 70 73 73

287 Marina Alex (USA)  71 73 72 71, Haru Nomura (JPN)  70 68 71 78, Valentine Derrey (FRA)  69 69 72 77, Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS)  68 72 72 75, Lindsey Wright (AUS)  73 69 72 73, Su-Hyun Oh (AUS)  74 69 66 78

288 Sue Kim (CAN)  72 70 72 74, Jing Yan (CHN) (amateur)  71 66 72 79, Lee-Anne Pace (RSA)  72 67 74 75, Sydnee Michaels (USA)  68 71 77 72, Kelly Tan (MYS)  70 70 77 71, Anna Nordqvist (SWE)  72 64 75 77, Ayako Uehara (JPN)  70 68 74 76, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE)  71 71 70 76

289 Hannah Jun (USA)  69 72 77 71, Diana Luna (ITA)  70 71 69 79, Julieta Granada (PAR)  70 70 76 73, Yani Tseng (TPE)  71 73 70 75

290 Alison Whitaker (AUS)  71 72 70 77, Line Vedel (DEN)  73 68 73 76, Brittany Lincicome (USA)  71 71 74 74, Paolo Moreno (COL)  71 70 73 76, Pornanong Phatlum (THA)  73 68 72 77, Tamie Durdin (AUS)  73 70 71 76, Tiffany Joh (USA)  69 70 73 78

291 Sandra Changkija (USA)  72 72 75 72, Eun Hee Ji (SKOR)  70 72 75 74, Rebecca Artis (AUS)  73 71 72 75

292 Stacy Lee Bregman (RSA)  72 71 73 76, Marion Ricordeau (FRA)  67 74 73 78
293 - Katie Burnett (USA)  69 72 74 78, Julia Boland (AUS)  70 72 73 78, Austin Ernst (USA)  72 69 73 79
294 Breanna Elliott (AUS)  71 73 72 78, Nikki Campbell (AUS)  69 71 78 76

295 Jaclyn Sweeney (USA)  67 72 76 80, Kris Tamulis (USA)  73 71 74 77

299 Paz Echeverria (CHL)  72 70 78 79