The AmazingCre Portland Classic has a storied history on the LPGA as the longest running non-major event on the Tour and 2020 champion Georgia Hall is honored to be a part of it. The two-time LPGA winner earned her most recent victory in Portland by defeating Ashleigh Buhai with a par on the second playoff hole. It was a special win for the English golfer, even with COVID-19 restrictions and local wildfires greatly affecting play.
“It was around COVID, so they had no leaderboards, and I didn't know where I was at all, even on the last hole. I bogeyed the last and I still didn't even know I had a chance. It was a little bit disappointing to know if I parred it I would've won outright,” Hall said. “(I was) really happy to win in that playoff obviously after two holes, and to win in the America for the first time was really big and one of my goals for that year.”
Hall is looking to continue a long run of consistent golf as she returns to the States and plays in her first LPGA event since the European swing ended in mid-August. She hasn’t missed a cut in 14 events this season and has recorded two top-10 and five top-20 finishes. Hall earned her best result of the 2022 season during her last appearance on Tour, the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics.
“(The European swing) is my favorite time of the year. I finished third in Ireland, which was my last event, so really good, consistent. Evian top 10 again and the Scottish and British. I love being back home and playing in front of the fans,” she said. “Playing four in a row mentally was fairly tiring, so I took a good month off before coming back here just to kind of prepare as well best I could mentally and physically. And I’m ready for another three-, four-week stretch.”
The key to defending her title at Columbia Edgewater Country Club – Jin Young Ko won the 2021 event at Oregon Golf Club – will be her putting, she said. According to Hall, putting is what won her the tournament in 2020 and her familiarity with the greens will give her an edge as she looks to add her name once more to the tournament’s 51-year history.
“History is amazing, right? It is what makes golf so special as well,” she said. “All the players love coming back to this event and taking part and, hopefully, I look forward to playing this event every year until I retire.”
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