Malaysian amateur Winnie Ng has taken some valuable lessons from the EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open despite a disappointing final round which saw her finish tied 16th on one-under-par.
“The biggest lesson I learnt this week was not to think about anything, especially on the last day, and just go out and play. Instead of focusing on my usual routine, I was thinking about other things like my swing,” said Winnie.
Winnie shot a closing 76 which included two straight double bogeys on 15 and 16. However, the 16-year-old did well to come back with a birdie on 17 and just missed picking up another shot on the last hole.
“My shots were really bad today, going left and right, and I tried my best to save par by getting up and down … and it did work until the last few holes. Maybe I was a bit tired and nervous and was thinking too much about the amateur title,” noted Winnie.
Playing on a sponsor’s invite, Winnie made headlines when she co-led after an opening 67 and was still in the hunt after a second round 72. However, the closing 76 saw her miss out on best amateur honours, which went to Chinese Taipei’s Hsuan Chen in T12 place on three-under-par.
“I feel really grateful for the opportunity that EFG has given me this week, to experience playing in a professional event,” said Winnie. “If you want to play on tour, you must be super-ready physically, mentally, strategically, technically – everything has to be really, really good, so we’ll see when I’m ready!”
Winnie however earned the distinction of finishing as the joint best Malaysian with professional Aretha Pan. There were three other Malaysian professionals in the field – Michelle Koh (T29 on +2), Ainil Bakar (T43 on +4) and Nur Durriyah Damian (T43 on +4).
A total of 120 players including 15 amateurs took part in the US$150,000 event, which forms part of the China LPGA Tour. Thailand’s Saranporn Langkulgasettrin won the title in a playoff over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Han after both players finished 54 holes tied on 11-under-par.
