MUSSELBURGH PLAYER FINISHES WITH TWO GREAT ROUNDS IN VICTORIA OPEN

Minjee Lee with Matt Griffin who beat fellow Australian Matt Steiger at the third hole of a sudden death play-off after they had tied for Men's Victoria Open title on seven-under-par 281.  The men's prize fund dwarfed what the girls were playing for - Griffin's win earned him 150,000 Australian dollars, roughly £70,000 - a bit more than Vikki Laing received for the first lady pro prize!

VIKKI LAING COLLECTS FIRST PRO 
 
 PRIZE OF £12,500 AS RUNNER-UP TO 

AMATEUR WINNER MINJEE LEE 

Aussie amateur Minjee Lee, No 3 in the WAGR ratings,  has been knocking on the victory door for some time and she has finally done it. She has won her first women’s professional golf tournament, the Women's Victoria Open.
Musselburgh's Vikki Laing, afer covering the last 36 holes in 67-66, finished second and won the first pro cash prize of 22,500 Australian dollars.
One Aussie dollar = 54p so that means Vikki earned £12,150, give or take a cent.
That would b one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, payslips in the pro career of the former Curtis Cup player and record-setting Scottish girls champion.
Laing finished with scores of 76, 76, 67 and 66 for 11-under-par 284 - six shots behind the Australian amateur champion and world ranked female amateur.
Vikki, who will be 33 next month, played on the Ladies European Tour and the Paul Lawrie Ladies Tour last year.
After four years at college in the USA, she turned pro over there and was been a winner on the US Futures Tour (now called the Symetra Tour). 
In her final round, Laing had halves of 35-31 for an eight-under 66 (three rounds were played over a par-74 course and one over a par-73 lay-out).
Vikki bogeyed the first and eighth but birdied the long second, the third, fourth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th and 18 -- 10 birdies and two bogeys.
 Said Vikki in an E-mail to Kirkwoodgolf:
"That's definitely my best 36-hole finish. Was a great deal of fun to do. I hit the ball solid and the putter was rather warm for the last two days. Felt really good on the greens." 
She will be back home in Scotland in April - in time for the first event on the Paul Lawrie Ladies' Tartan Tour at Fairmont St Andrews (Torrance Course) over 36 holes on April 14 and 15.
Vikki's next event is in China. Play golf and see the world!
Minjee Lee, the 2012 US girls champion, fired a final round of six-under-par 68 on the Beach course at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links to finish at the top of the leaderboard at 16-under-par and streak the field by six shots.
Lee, didn’t have it her own way. She got off to a nervous start with a bogey, birdie, bogey start. The large gallery following the last group unsettled the 17-year-old for the first few holes.
However, after the fourth hole she settled into her round and started playing well and making birdies.
Lee birdied the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th holes to take a commanding five-shot lead into the back nine. Another two birdies at the 11th and 12th made the final six holes relatively stress-free.
She was thrilled with her first win over a professional field.
“It feels unbelievable, it hasn’t really sunk in yet, I’m pretty happy and just stoked up that I have won.”
Asked when she thought she had it in the bag, the 17-year-old said: “I saw the leaderboard after 15, and I knew I just had to finish nicely and I would be OK.”
The win doesn’t change her plans for the year, but it certainly has given her confidence that she can compete with the pros.
 Third was Aussie Sarah-Jane Smith on eight-under-par 287 after a final round of 73.
WOMEN'S VICTORIA OPEN
13th Beach Golf Club, Australia.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 295 (3x74, 1x73) Players from Australia unless stated
279 Minjee Lee (am) 73 70 68 68
285 Vikki Laing (Scotland) 76 76 67 66
287 Sarah-Jane Smith 69 71 74 73
288 Sarah Kemp 78 72 70 68, Su-Hyun Oh (am) 72 77 67 72
289 Nikki Campbell 79 67 72 71, Hannah Jun (USA) 74 72 74 69
292 Lindsey Wright 72 76 74 70

SELECTED TOTALS
296 Laura Davies (England) 72 77 71 76, Trish Johnson (England) 77 72 76 71 (T11)
297 Sophie Gustafson (Sweden) 76 73 72 76 (T13)
298 Marianne Skarpnord (Norway) 78 78 73 69 (T18)
299 Felicity Johnson (England) 76 77 74 72 (T19)
300 Chloe Leurquin (Belgium) 79 78 72 71 (t21)
301 Hannah Burke (England) 77 78 75 71 (T24)
303 Joanna Klatten (France) 74 79 74 76 (T32)