Right up until she was standing on the 18th green, making her final putt of the tournament, Brigitte Thibault didn't know she was winning the Kathy Whitworth Championship.
The three-stroke win in Trophy Club, Texas, was the first victory of the 24-year-old Thibault's professional career. Thibault said she had just kept her head down for the third and final round of the Women's All Pro Tour season finale.
"I had no idea what the leaderboard was. I was just trying to score as best as I could," said Thibault. "It's almost like I didn't want to get ahead of myself and just felt like I just needed to keep pushing."
Thibault finished the tournament 71-68-68 for a total of 207. The native of Rosemere, Que., came out of the front nine of her third round at 5 under, having three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole at the Trophy Club Country Club.
She bogeyed the par-3 No. 13 to arrive at her final round score of 4-under 68 and the win.
"I kept missing great opportunities on the back nine," said Thibault. "I'd reach a lot of pins and then not make the putts.
"I felt like I was giving it away, but I ended up coming up on top. That was exciting."
Having won a professional event, Thibault's next goal is to move up to a higher tier of women's golf. That means a good showing in Stage II of the LPGA Tour's qualifying series at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla., Oct. 17 to Oct. 20.
Thibault said she'll be working with coach Chuck Cook in Austin, Texas, to ready herself for Stage II.
"Just preparation for what the course is asking for," said Thibault. "Really make sure I'm comfortable with the type of shots that I'm going to need to be hitting. Just a lot of short game, to be honest."
Winning the Kathy Whitworth Championship has shown Thibault that she can do it.
"My work is paying off and just to see it come to fruition is really exciting," said Thibault. "But also just confidence in terms of like I'm trying to stay ready for Q-School and just to have competitive reps and to be able to come out on top it's very encouraging on my end."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2023.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
