Australia Wins the 2002 Women's World Amateur Team Championship

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (19 October) – In the closest finish in history, Australia made up a three-stroke deficit and won its second title and first since 1978 Saturday at the 20th Women's World Amateur Team Championship by tiebreaker over Thailand at Saujana Golf and Country Club.

“It's unbelievable,” said Australian captain Liz Cavill. “I thought we could do it. The team is just so talented. They ground it out very hard. It's a dream for us all.”

Both teams finished 72 holes, with two of three players' scores counting each day, at 6-under-par 578 over the par-73 Palm and Bunga Raya Courses at Saujana.

The Australian team, led Lindsey Wright and Katherine Hull, who shot 1-under-par 72 and even-par 73, respectively at the Palm Course, was awarded the Espirito Santo Trophy based on a lower third score, which came from Vicky Uwland, who shot 5-over-par 78 to Thailand's 8-over-par 81.

Wright and Hull, who are All-American teammates at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. in the U.S., helped Australia move steadily up the standings during each of the days of the championship.

Thailand, with stellar play from 16-year-old American-based identical twins, Naree and Aree Song Wongluekiet, led by one shot over Spain and by three over Australia and Germany but could not maintain the lead they held for the first three rounds.

After placing 20th on the first day, the Aussies moved into fifth with a 6-under-par performance on the second day. They climbed again on the third day with a 5-under-par score and were tied for third.

“When we were standing at tied for third, there was only one place to go and that was one,” said Cavil, who played in the Espirito Santo three times for Australia.

Thailand, which was seeking to become the seventh wire-to-wire winner, was playing in just its third championship, with a best finish of 18th in its debut in 1984. Aree posted a 1-under-par 71 and her sister, Naree registered a 3-over-par 76.

“This week it was the battle of the mentally tough,” said Hull of Australia. “With the heat and courses being so difficult, it comes down to the mental game. We decided to gut it out and it paid off.”

Aree Song Wongluekiet agreed that it was a grueling week with four days of practice and four days of competition.

“I didn't feel like we lost,” said Song Wongluekiet. “Everyone on our team played consistently. It was hot and it was a long week. The club got heavy at the end and the hills were getting steep. But, I am proud of the way we played.”

Spain, which entered the final day a stroke behind Thailand, finished third at 5-under-par 579. Germany placed fourth at 3-under-par 581. The USA was fifth at even-par 584, its 19th top five finish in 20 events.. Defending champion France finished tied for 15th at 13-over-par 597.

The 2004 World Amateur Team Championship will be played at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort and Country Club in Puerto Rico.

Sweden, one of five teams to compete in all 20 championships, which was tied for eighth, has a top 10 finish in all.

Conducted by the World Amateur Golf Council, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries, the World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur competition, which is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, American and European-African.

Each team, which has two or three players, plays 18 holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72 holes) total is the team's score for the championship.

For complete results, please visit www.wagc.org and click on the Golfstat icon. For photos, visit www.wagc.org/pix.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Results of Saturday's (19 October) fourth round of the 2002 Women's World Amateur Team Championship, played at the Saujana Golf & Country Club (Palm Course: par 36-37—73, 5,618 meters, 6,147 yards; Bunga Raya Course: par: 36-37—73, 5,477 meters, 5,994 yards):

Place Team Scoring Rounds Totalscore
To par Thru Today 1 2 3 4
1* Australia -6 F -1 152 140 141 145 578
2 Thailand -6 F +2 139 145 146 148 578
3 Spain -5 F +2 144 144 143 148 579
4 Germany -3 F +2 147 140 146 148 581
5 USA E F +3 143 150 142 149 584
T6 Japan +3 F -1 147 145 150 145 587
T6 Korea +3 F E 144 152 145 146 587
T8 GB&I +4 F -2 156 147 141 144 588
T8 Italy +4 F +2 148 142 150 148 588
T8 Sweden +4 F +2 146 150 144 148 588
11 Finland +5 F +7 144 148 144 153 589
T12 Canada +9 F +2 150 148 147 148 593
T12 Colombia +9 F +3 149 149 146 149 593
14 Chinese Taipei +10 F +1 150 149 148 147 594
T15 Denmark +13 F +3 147 150 151 149 597
T15 France +13 F +4 147 152 148 150 597
17 Mexico +14 F +11 151 146 144 157 598
18 Norway +16 F +10 150 150 144 156 600
19 Netherlands +17 F +6 149 152 148 152 601
20 New Zealand +19 F +12 150 149 146 158 603
21 Austria +27 F +7 153 152 153 153 611
22 Brazil +31 F +4 156 161 148 150 615
T23 Argentina +32 F +3 153 157 157 149 616
T23 Philippines +32 F +5 158 152 155 151 616
25 Switzerland +36 F +11 148 158 157 157 620
26 Chile +43 F +7 162 164 148 153 627
27 Belgium +45 F +8 162 151 162 154 629
28 Hong Kong, +47 F +16 157 157 155 162 631
China
T29 Malaysia +51 F +9 161 157 162 155 635
T29 South Africa +51 F +9 167 155 158 155 635
31 Portugal +54 F +14 154 167 157 160 638
32 Guatemala +68 F +11 159 166 170 157 652
33 Russian Fed. +77 F +15 172 161 167 161 661
34 Slovakia +79 F +20 172 165 160 166 663
35 Puerto Rico +90 F +22 171 169 166 168 674
36 Bolivia +106 F +18 180 176 170 164 690
37 Greece +125 F +27 173 181 182 173 709
38 Croatia +154 F +35 183 190 184 181 738
39 Islamic +341 F +78 236 229 236 224 925
Rep. of Iran

*Won on a tiebreaker, lowest third score in the fourth round