‘Smiling Cinderella’ Hinako Shibuno completed a fairytale week by winning the Women’s British Open in her first LPGA event at Milton Keynes on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Japanese rank outsider, who earned her nickname because of her radiant smile, rammed home a lengthy birdie putt of just under 20 feet at the final hole to edge out American Lizette Salas by one stroke.
Playing outside Japan for the first time as well as in her first major, Shibuno reacted with glee and astonishment, covering her mouth with her hand after the winning putt rattled in at Woburn for a closing four-under-par 68.
She finished on 18-under 270 to become the second Japanese woman to win a major, after Hisako “Chako” Higuchi in 1977.
Salas, two behind overnight, caught Shibuno on the front nine and thought she had done enough with a seven-under 65 final round.
But Shibuno, ranked 559 in the world at the start of the year, found five birdies on the way home.
“I still feel like I’m going to vomit,” Shibuno said moments after her victory.
