Aussies claim amateur title

Australia won the women’s World Amateur Team Golf Championship and claimed the Espirito Santo Trophy for the first time for 24 years in a tight finish in the sweltering heat of Kuala Lumpur today.

Their 72-hole total – with two of the three cards counting each day – was 578, the same as Thailand, but they won on account of a lower discarded score. One stroke behind in bronze-medal position were Spain.

Great Britain and Ireland, whose hopes of a first title were realistically dashed with a disappointing first-round performance on Wednesday, continued their climb up the leaderboard and finished in joint eighth place, 10 strokes off the pace.

“It was a fantastic team performance. If they had played to their potential on the first day we could well have won the title,” said captain Ada O’Sullivan.

“They showed total commitment and total concentration. It was our goal today to get into the top 10 and that’s what we did. I am very pleased with them.”

Best of the British overall was Welsh star Becky Brewerton who concluded with a level-par 73 having returned scores of one under on the previous two days.