KATY, HEATHER TOP 20 IN AZORES BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

Carnoustie's Katy McNicoll and Heather MacRae (Gleneagles Hotel) from Dunblane played the last few holes poorly today to finish joint 15th and 18th respectively in the Azores Ladies Open, the final event of the year on the Ladies European Tour's developmental Access Series circuit. McNicoll had rounds of 78, 75 and 75 for a total of 12-over-par 228 for which she earned 778 Euros. But she would have made the top 10 and had a payslip for at least 1,000 Euros had she not bogeyed the 15th, 17th and 18th after birdies at the ninth and 11th had cancelled out bogeys at the sixth and 10th. Similarly, MacRae earned 688 Euros for a total of 231, made up of scores of 74, 80 and 77. A bogey at the sixth and a double bogey at the eight were offset by birdies at the seventh and 10th. Had she been able to cover the last six holes in par, she would have tied for 13th on 227 and made 200 Euros more than she did. But Heather sagged with bogeys at the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th. Former British women's open amateur champion Kelly Tidy (Royal Birkdale), playing as an amateur prior to entering the Ladies European Tour Q School at La Manga next month, led the field by five shots with a round to go. But she had a last-round slump to a 76 for one-over 217 and was caught by Dutch professional Marieke Nivard's closign 69 for level par 216, which earned her the top prize of 3,448 Euros. LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 216 (3x72) 216 Marieke Nivard (Net) 75 72 69. 217 Kelly Tidy (Royal Birkdale) (am) 70 71 76. 219 Alexandra Vilatte (Fra) (am) 75 72 72. Selected scores: 227 Tara Delaney (Ire) 75 74 78 (T13). 228 Katy McNicoll (Carnoustie) 78 75 75 (T15). 231 Heather MacRae (Gleneagles Hotel) 74 80 77 (T18).

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Flying Dutch girl comes from six behind to catch Kelly Tidy

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Marieke Nivard of the Netherlands came from six shots behind overnight leader Kelly Tidy to claim her second Ladies European Tour Access Series (LETAS) victory of the season at the Azores Ladies Open on Sunday.
The 21-year-old rookie professional, pictured right, fired rounds of 75, 72 and 69 to finish at 216, level par for the tournament, a stroke clear of English amateur Tidy, who carded a 76, with French amateur Alexandra Vilatte two strokes further behind in third.
This was Nivard’s second victory following her maiden win at the Trophee Preven’s in France in October. Nivard said:
“I'm very happy, obviously, but I was not thinking of winning; maybe a play-off, but with a little bit of luck it was not needed. This win was completely different from the one in France because there I was in the last group, leading, but here I started six shots back and I know Kelly from the amateur times, she is a good player and I would never think she would lose so many shots in the last round.”
Nivard made her intentions clear with two birdies at the fourth and fifth holes for an outward total of 34 on an overcast and calm day at Golf de Batalha, playing in temperatures of 17 degrees Celsius.
She birdied the par five 10th and then dropped her only shot of the day at the 12th but held steady through the closing stretch, picking up a fourth birdie at the par four 15th for a one under par inward nine.
“This was my best round of the tournament. The birdies on holes four and five were vital because they changed the momentum,” she continued. “That's when I started to think that I could turn everything around. I saw the leader board on the seventh and I saw I had some chances.
“I enjoyed the course, but it is not an easy one. The tee shots on the front nine are narrow and you need long iron approaches to the greens.”
As well as earning a 3448 Euro pay cheque the win elevated Nivard to pole position on the 2011 LETAS Order of Merit. Her 15106.25 points from seven events played over the season was enough to eclipse second-placed Henrietta Zuel from England, with 13616.25 points from four events played, who has also won two LETAS events this year.
“Both wins were important, the same, because they took me to number one in the ranking and a spot on the 2012 Ladies European Tour. I can't wait for the next season,” said Nivard, who finished 42nd at LET Final Qualifying School for 2011 in December.
She has played in 10 LET events this season with her best finish a tie for 38th at the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open.
“Even if I played ten tournaments this year, it is different playing with a full season Tour card,” she said.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club member Tidy, British women's open amateur champion at Ganton a couple of years ago, vowed to use the lessons learned in the Azores at LET Qualifying School for 2012 at La Manga Club in Spain in January.

The 19-year-old from Bolton, Lancashire said:

“It was a hard day. I knew that I was holing all the putts in the previous rounds and that one day they would not get in so easily and that day was today.

"You have to make the putts in order to win and I did not make any. I never thought I had it lost but I saw Marieke was playing really well and that I needed a level par round or a one over to win. I saw the leaderboard on the 15th and for me it is important to know the scores, but I couldn’t make it.

“I'm going to take a lot of positives from this tournament. I always say that the losers learn more than the winners and I am proud of what I've done. I'm going to practise hard for Q-School and we'll see what happens.”