Big-hitting Laura makes it Win No 74 in Ladies German Open

FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England’s Laura Davies defied tough, cold and windy conditions, to fire a closing four-under-par 68 and claim her 74th career victory at the UniCredit Ladies German Open, presented by Audi, in Munich.
Davies, 46, shot 10-under-par over the final two rounds at Golfpark Gut Häusern and came from nine strokes behind after Friday’s second round.
She finished with an 11-under 277 total, two ahead of compatriot Melissa Reid (73) and three ahead of third round leader Ashleigh Simon of South Africa (75). Australian Karen Lunn took outright fourth after a 69 and finished one stroke back, with Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson (71), Denmark’s Iben Tinning (71) and Sweden’s Linda Wessberg (75) sharing fifth.
It was Davies’ 40th Ladies European Tour victory following her win at the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open in February, when she became the Tour’s oldest ever winner. The last time she played in Germany was in 1992 when she won the European Ladies’ Open at Golf Club Beuerberg and she fancied her chances as soon as she saw the course.
“A couple of players had said to me, ‘Go to Germany, you’re going to love it’, and they were spot on,” said Davies. “I love playing golf courses which allow me to have fun and use my driver and cut some corners. This is built for me. I think the architect had me in mind.”
The four-time major champion started the day four shots behind Simon, but said that the key was that she didn’t have a bogey all weekend: “I had four birdies and I didn’t have a bogey on the weekend and that’s always a good thing.”
She was off to a flying start when she birdied the 311-yard par-four first hole, which was playing down wind. She aimed for the green with her driver and finished pin high, just off the edge.”I started off with that lovely drive down the first and relaxed straight away,” she said.
Laura then drove the green on the 381yd par-4 seventh: “I pitched one up there and nearly holed the putt actually. It was just hanging in for an eagle but then that got my round going, to be honest,” she said.
Davies grabbed a three-way share of the lead after Simon, playing two groups behind, bogeyed the same hole. With her birdie on 17, which was virtually a tap-in, she opened up a two shot lead over Reid.
On her approach to the 17th green, she said: “It was the worst shot I hit all day. It was a wedge that I sort of blocked out to the right, hit on the side of the green and trickled down to five inches. I hit some lovely shots all day and missed the putts and then go and get one lucky like that, so that was nice.”
She later admitted in a television interview that she stood on the 18th fairway, which is a 519-yard par-five, with a seven-iron in her hand, thinking “please don’t shank it,” and hit a beautiful third shot to within 12 feet of the flag. She took a par but Reid was unable to birdie the last two holes meaning Davies took the title, the €49,500 first prize and a convertible AUDI A5.
Davies loves her cars and had earlier joked that she was going to drive off in the AUDI R8 Spider that she had been given to drive for the week so she was “over the moon.” She was also delighted to extend her lead at the top of the Ladies European Tour’s Henderson Money List.
“That’s the key for these four weeks that I’m playing: I want to have a good run and try to establish a good position on the (Henderson) Money List,” she said. She has now earned €128,481 form five events and is approximately €60,000 ahead of second placed Reid.
Having fallen just short of back-to-back titles after winning her maiden event last week in Turkey, Reid said: “I’m disappointed. I came here to win. I just didn’t hole anything the last 27 holes.
“Me and Lee, (Griffiths) were just saying we must have missed 15 putts inside 10 feet on the last 27 holes so we missed a lot but fair play to Laura. She played great today in that wind: it’s a really good score.”
COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH:
Krystle Caithness earned 8,250 Euros for an eighth place finish, six strokes behind winner Laura Davies in
The Cupar-based Fifer had rounds of 74, 69, 66 and 74 for a five-under-par total of 283.
She had the momentum to mount a challenge after her Saturday 66 but she lost it over the first nine holes of her final circuit.
Caithness double-bogeyed the first and also dropped shots at the seventh and ninth to reach the turn in 40. She perked up after that with birdies at the 11th, 13th and 18th but further bogeys, at the 10th and 17th, in her inward 34 deprived her of a top five finish.
Lynn Kenny (Archerfield Links) from Dunblane tied for 20th place on 287 with scores of 76, 69, 72 and 70. She earned 4059 Euros.
The two Scottish schoolgirls who made the cut - 14-year-old South-Korean born Julie Yang, a pupil at Loretto Golf Academy, Musselburgh, and 17-year-old rookie pro Carly Booth from Comrie, a student at Glenalmond School, finished joint 31st and 43rd respectively.
Julie, the only amateur to survive the halfway cut, had very steady rounds of 71, 73, 71 and 74 for a one-over-par total of 289. She would have finished under par but for a double bogey 6 - her only one of the 72 holes - at the 16th in her final round.
Carly earned 1881 Euros with scores of 70, 75, 74 and 73 for a total of four-over-par 292. Booth is not picking up big money yet but she is making the cuts which is all-important in her rookie year. It's a good habit to develop.
After a week off, trying to avoid travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano, the players will reconvene for the next event on the Ladies European Tour schedule, which is the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open at Gray Bear Golf Course in Tále, from 27-30 May.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
Prize money in Euros.
277 Laura Davies (England) 71 72 66 68 (49,500).
279 Melissa Reid (England) 70 65 71 73 (33,495).
280 Ashleigh Simon (South Africa) 71 70 64 75 (23,100).
281 Karen Lunn (Australia) 74 66 72 69 (17,820).
282 Helen Alfredsson (Sweden) 70 71 70 71, Iben Tinning (Denmark) 67 74 70 71, Linda Wessberg (Delsjo Golf Klubb, Sweden) 70 64 73 75 (11,814 each)
283 Krystle Caithness (Scotland) 74 69 66 74 (8,250).
284 Jade Schaeffer (France) 70 74 70 70, Emma Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 71 71 71 71, Caroline Afonso (France) 71 71 70 72, Lisa Holm Sorensen (Esbjerg Golfklub, Denmark) 69 74 69 72 (6,435 each).
285 Lee-Anne Pace (South Africa) 68 69 73 75 5,313.00 »»
286 Nina Reis (Lysegarden, Sweden)74 71 70 71, Breanne Loucks (WAL) Wales 70 73 71 72 »»
Nikki Garrett (Australia)) 72 69 71 74, Veronica Zorzi (Italy) 72 70 70 74, Alison Walshe (Ireland) 72 71 69 74, Caroline Masson (Germany)72 68 68 78 (4,702.50 each).
287 Lynn Kenny (Archerfield Links) 76 69 72 70, Beth Allen (USA) 73 71 70 73, Elizabeth Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor) 75 70 69 73, Melodie Bourdy (Golf Bordelais, France) 72 74 68 73,
Felicity Johnson (Harborne) 72 73 68 74 (4,059 each).
288 Frances Bondad (Australia) 73 73 71 71, Kristie Smith (Perth, Australia) 71 71 74 72, Tandi Cuningham (Wanderers GC, South Africa) 73 71 71 73, Ursula Wikstrom (Finland) 75 68 70 75,
Rebecca Hudson (England) 69 71 72 76, Marjet van der Graaff (Golf Team Holland) 73 72 66 77 (3,514 each).
289 Malene Jorgensen (Odense GC, Denmark) 71 75 71 72, Rebecca Coakley (Team (reland0 71 69 72 77 (3,118.50 each), Julie Yang (South Korea) (am) 71 73 71 74.
290 Smriti Mehra (India) 71 74 73 72 2,821.50, Nicole Gergely (Austria) 74 72 69 75 »»
Becky Brewerton (Wales) 74 67 73 76, Kyra van Leeuwen (Netherlands) 71 71 71 77 (2,821 each).
291 Hannah Jun (USA) 73 73 74 71, Trish Johnson (Desert Springs) 71 75 72 73, Julie Greciet (France) 70 75 71 75, Marta Prieto (Spain) 71 74 70 76, Florentyna Parker (Golf Lounge Hamburg) 70 75 70 76 (2,369.40 each).
292 Florence Luscher (Switzerland) 72 74 75 71, K M Juul (DEN) Denmark 73 73 75 71, Mollie Fankhauser (USA) 74 72 74 72, Carly Booth (Scotland) 70 75 74 73, Laura Cabanillas (Benahavis Pueblo, Spain) 69 75 73 75, Sophie Sandolo (Italy) 70 76 71 75 (1,881 each).
293 Jeehae Lee (South Korea) 74 71 78 70, Maria Boden (SWE) Sweden 73 73 75 72, Tara Delaney (Team Ireland) 74 72 73 74, Stacy Lee Bregman (South Africa) 71 74 79 69, Anja Monke (Germany) 72 72 70 79 (1,518 Euros)
294 Hazel Kavanagh (Spawell Driving Range, Ireland) 72 72 72 78 (1,320)
296 Dana Lacey-Johnson (Australia) 71 73 74 78, Caroline Rominger (Switzerland)72 74 71 79 (1,221 each)
297 Claire Aitken (Mid Kent G C) 74 72 72 79 (1,122).
298 Lisa Hall (England) 70 76 77 75 (1,089).
299 Elin Emanuelsson (Sweden) 70 75 74 80(1,056).
303 Emma Zackrisson (SWE) Sweden 75 71 74 83 (1,023).
Retired: Christel Boeljon (NL) Golf Team Holland 69 68 80 - (990).