EUROPEAN TOUR REPORT
Big Laura leads by two with a round to go in Spain
FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England’s Laura Davies was on course to collect her 76th career title as she took a two stroke lead into the final round of the Open de España Femenino on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
The four-time major champion, who collected her third title of the season in Austria a fortnight ago, carded a round of five-under-par 66 in scorching weather at Flamingos Golf in Benahavís for an 11-under-par two-round total.
She started slowly at level par for the front nine but fired five birdies coming back, picking up a shot at the tricky par-four 10th before reeling off four straight birdies from the 14th hole.
“It was a nice run: four birdies on the trot and I had the chance there at the last; just got a bit carried away, a bit excited, knocked it about four foot past and managed to knock the next one in,” said Davies, who turns 47 in a fortnight.
“There are some chances out there. On the back nine I just hit it a little bit closer and that was the difference.”
She was feeling confident about her chances of claiming her fourth title of the season, 24 years after she last won in Spain at the 1986 La Manga Spanish Open in her second year on the Ladies European Tour.
“You know you’re good enough and you hope you’re going to win. Whether you actually get the luck when you need it to win tournaments; that’s another thing. If you don’t think you’re good enough to win, you may as well go back to work in a bookies, I used to, or Sainsbury’s, that I used to. You’ve got to believe in yourself or else it’s pointless, being out here,” she said.
Lisa Hall is in second place
Davies finished two ahead of compatriot Lisa Hall, who carded a six-under-par 65, her best round in two years, to finish at nine-under. Hall, who will be 43 next week, birdied the 14th for a back nine total of one-under-par 35 before picking up five shots over the front nine.
“It was a great finish from eagling six, which was our 15th hole and then a couple of birdies on the last two holes, so it was nice,” said the four-time LET tournament champion, who claimed her last victory at the 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done that and so I just enjoy that. I knew I was swinging well so that breeds confidence. Once you’ve been there you know what you’re doing, so we’ll see.”
Sweden’s Carin Koch shot 69 to finish on eight-under in third place, with Italian Giulia Sergas and Alison Walshe of the United States locked in a tie for fourth on seven-under after rounds of 66 and 70 respectively.
A stroke further back, nine players were on six-under including the 2009 champion Becky Brewerton of Wales, first round leader María Hernández from Spain, Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson and Thailand’s Titiya Plucksataporn, whose 65 tied for the lowest round of the day with Davies. Also sharing sixth place were Denmark’s Malene Jorgensen, Spain’s Laura Cabanillas, Julie Maisongrosse of France, Finland’s Riikka Hakkarainen and Hannah Jun from the USA.
Final round play will start from two tees on Sunday, beginning with the first tee time at 9.04am and the last, with the leaders, out at 11.10am.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71). Yardage 5,996.FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England’s Laura Davies was on course to collect her 76th career title as she took a two stroke lead into the final round of the Open de España Femenino on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
The four-time major champion, who collected her third title of the season in Austria a fortnight ago, carded a round of five-under-par 66 in scorching weather at Flamingos Golf in Benahavís for an 11-under-par two-round total.
She started slowly at level par for the front nine but fired five birdies coming back, picking up a shot at the tricky par-four 10th before reeling off four straight birdies from the 14th hole.
“It was a nice run: four birdies on the trot and I had the chance there at the last; just got a bit carried away, a bit excited, knocked it about four foot past and managed to knock the next one in,” said Davies, who turns 47 in a fortnight.
“There are some chances out there. On the back nine I just hit it a little bit closer and that was the difference.”
She was feeling confident about her chances of claiming her fourth title of the season, 24 years after she last won in Spain at the 1986 La Manga Spanish Open in her second year on the Ladies European Tour.
“You know you’re good enough and you hope you’re going to win. Whether you actually get the luck when you need it to win tournaments; that’s another thing. If you don’t think you’re good enough to win, you may as well go back to work in a bookies, I used to, or Sainsbury’s, that I used to. You’ve got to believe in yourself or else it’s pointless, being out here,” she said.
Lisa Hall is in second place
Davies finished two ahead of compatriot Lisa Hall, who carded a six-under-par 65, her best round in two years, to finish at nine-under. Hall, who will be 43 next week, birdied the 14th for a back nine total of one-under-par 35 before picking up five shots over the front nine.
“It was a great finish from eagling six, which was our 15th hole and then a couple of birdies on the last two holes, so it was nice,” said the four-time LET tournament champion, who claimed her last victory at the 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done that and so I just enjoy that. I knew I was swinging well so that breeds confidence. Once you’ve been there you know what you’re doing, so we’ll see.”
Sweden’s Carin Koch shot 69 to finish on eight-under in third place, with Italian Giulia Sergas and Alison Walshe of the United States locked in a tie for fourth on seven-under after rounds of 66 and 70 respectively.
A stroke further back, nine players were on six-under including the 2009 champion Becky Brewerton of Wales, first round leader María Hernández from Spain, Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson and Thailand’s Titiya Plucksataporn, whose 65 tied for the lowest round of the day with Davies. Also sharing sixth place were Denmark’s Malene Jorgensen, Spain’s Laura Cabanillas, Julie Maisongrosse of France, Finland’s Riikka Hakkarainen and Hannah Jun from the USA.
Final round play will start from two tees on Sunday, beginning with the first tee time at 9.04am and the last, with the leaders, out at 11.10am.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
131 Laura Davies (Eng) 65 66
133 Lisa Hall (Eng) 68 65
134 Carin Koch (Swe) 65 69
135 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 69 66, Alison Walshe (USA) 65 70
136 Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 67 69, Laura Cabanillas (Spa) 66 70, Becky Brewerton (Wal) 66 70, Malene Jorgensen (Den) 69 67, Maria Hernandez (Spa) 64 72, Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 71 65, Hannah Jun (USA) 67 69, Julie Maisongrosse (Fra) 67 69, Riikka Hakkarainen (Fin) 67 69
137 Melissa Reid (Eng) 68 69, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 69 68, Florentyna Parker (Eng) 67 70, Ashleigh Simon (Rsa) 67 70, Frances Bondad (Aus) 69 68, Camilla Hedberg (Spa) 68 69, Anja Monke (Ger) 69 68, Caroline Masson (Ger) 66 71
138 Linda Wessberg (Swe) 67 71, Veronica Zorzi (Ita) 68 70, Nikki Garrett (Aus) 72 66, Julieta Granada (Par) 68 70, Azahara Munoz (Spa) 68 70, Trish Johnson (Eng) 69 69, Kim Welch (USA) 70 68
139 Karen Lunn (Aus) 68 71, Rebecca Coakley (Irl) 73 66, Stefania Croce (Ita) 70 69, Pamela Feggans (Sco) 69 70, Cassandra Kirkland (Fra) 72 67, Christina Kim (USA) 68 71, Vikki Laing (Sco) 69 70, Diana Luna (Ita) 67 72, Km Juul (Den) 70 69, Mireia Prat (Spa) 72 67, Jeehae Lee (Kor) 72 67
140 Anne-Lise Caudal (Fra) 72 68, Becky Morgan (Wal) 70 70, Kylie Walker (Sco) 70 70, Tania Elosegui (Spa) 69 71, Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 70 70, Mollie Fankhauser (USA) 70 70, Rebecca Flood (Aus) 73 67
141 Emma Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 68 73, Johanna Lundberg (Swe) 70 71, Johanna W Johansson (Swe) 73 68, Sophie Walker (Eng) 72 69, Caroline Afonso (Fra) 69 72, Clare Queen (Sco) 72 69, Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa) 68 73, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 71 70, Stefanie Michl (Aut) 70 71, Beth Allen (USA) 72 69
142 Elizabeth Bennett (Eng) 70 72, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (Fra) 74 68, Federica Piovano (Ita) 72 70, Tandi Cuningham (Rsa) 73 69, Morgana Robbertze (Rsa) 69 73, Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Ned) 70 72, Julie Greciet (Fra) 73 69, Mallory Blackwelder (USA) 75 67, Nina Reis (Swe) 66 76
MISSED THE CUT
143 Kristie Smith (Aus) 72 71, Lydia Hall (Wal) 74 69, Laurette Maritz (Rsa) 72 71, Kate Combes (Aus) 71 72, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 74 69, Christine Hallstrom (Swe) 70 73, Carmen Alonso (Spa) 73 70
144 Henrietta Zuel (Eng) 74 70, Diana D'alessio (USA) 68 76, Sara Beautell (Spa) 67 77, Rachel Bell (Eng) 74 70, Noemi Jiminez (Spa) 71 73, Maria Boden (Swe) 74 70
145 Georgina Simpson (Eng) 73 72, Monica V.Christiansen (Den) 75 70, Mariana Macias Capuzzi (Spa) 70 75, Holly Aitchison (Eng) 73 72, Caroline Rominger (Swi) 73 72, Stacy Lee Bregman (Rsa) 72 73
146 Martina Gillen (Irl) 74 72, Adriana Zwanck (Spa) 74 72, Maria Beautell (Spa) 74 72, Marta Prieto (Spa) 75 71, Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 70 76
147 Kyra Van Leeuwen (Ned) 73 74, Ana B Sanchez (Spa) 75 72, Krystle Caithness (Sco) 71 76, Melodie Bourdy (Fra) 73 74, Anna Rossi (Ita) 74 73, Ana Larraneta (Spa) 78 69, Lynnette Brooky (Nzl) 75 72, Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 74 73
148 Margherita Rigon (Ita) 74 74, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 78 70, Sophie Giquel (Fra) 74 74, Claire Aitken (Eng) 75 73, Kym Larratt (Eng) 72 76
149 Carly Booth (Sco) 74 75, Elena Giraud (Fra) 75 74
150 Jo Pritchard (Wal) 79 71, Camille Fallay (Fra) 77 73
151 Nicole Gergely (Aut) 74 77
152 Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 79 73, Hannah Ralph (Eng) 75 77
153 Elisabeth Esterl (Ger) 73 80, Marina Arruti (Spa) 80 73, Emelie Lind (Swe) 77 76, Elin Emanuelsson (Swe) 79 74
154 Maha Haddioui (Mor) 78 76
155 Tara Delaney (Irl) 81 74, Julie Tvede (Den) 77 78
156 Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 80 76, Josefin Leijon (Swe) 81 75
157 Nathalie David-Mila (Fra) 80 77
158 Lynn Kenny (Sco) 77 81
159 Hazel Kavanagh (Irl) 76 83
161 Marian Jiminez (Spa) 79 82, Breanne Loucks (Wal) 82 79
162 Rhian Wyn Thomas (Wal) 82 80
RTD: Denise-Charlotte Becker (Ger) 73
Labels: LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
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