Korda won the Australian Open. We should be proud of these teen golfers!

Korda wins Women’s Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Jessica Korda broke out her father’s trademark scissor-kick celebration Sunday when she won the Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne for her first LPGA Tour title.

She decided against the cart wheels that her father, Petr, did when he won the 1998 Australian Open tennis title. Maybe she was still dizzy following a topsy-turvy final day of the tournament.

After losing the lead with a late bogey run, the 18-year-old American fought back to take the last spot in an improbable six-player playoff, then won with a 25-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole.

“It is a really special place for my family,” Korda said. “For my first win, I honestly could not have thought of a better place.”

What did her father say when they spoke by phone after the victory?

“That he was, `So proud of me and we’ll talk about the three-putts after,”’ she said.

She closed with a 1-over 74 to finish at 3-under 289 in the first women’s professional event at Royal Melbourne, the difficult sand-belt layout that was the site of the 2011 Presidents Cup.

Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Julieta Granada, So Yeon Ryu and Hee Kyung Seo also were in the playoff that matched the largest in LPGA Tour history.

Ryu and Seo, playing ahead of Korda and Nikki Campbell in the second-to-last group, topped the leaderboard at 4 under going into the final hole of regulation, but made bogeys to set up the big playoff.

Lewis finished with a 70, Lincicome and Granada shot 71, and Ryu and Seo 73.

Split into threesomes on the par-4 18th, all six players parred the first extra hole. Lincicome’s 6-foot birdie try circled the cup and stayed out.

“I couldn’t have hit it any better,” Lincicome said. “It was perfect, perfect speed. … Lips out and comes back to you.”

Playing in the first threesome, Lincicome also narrowly missed a 15-foot birdie try on the second playoff hole.

“Same thing on the second putt, hit it exactly where I wanted to hit it and it just didn’t break,” Lincicome said.

A few minutes later in the second group, Korda made her birdie putt, and won when Granada missed a 12-footer that would have sent the two back to the 18th tee.

Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-womensaustralianopen

These teens will make American Women competitive again. Congratulations Korda!