(Wiener-Neustadt, Austria)
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England&aposs Laura Davies has successfully defended her title at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open Presented by Raffeisen in Austria. Davies&apos winning margin was three strokes over compatriot Lisa Hall with Italy&aposs Diana Luna a further stroke back in outright 3rd.
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After firing opening rounds of 71, 67, 67 to sit at 11-under par, Davies began the final round in a share of the lead with Swede Emma Zackrisson, with Germany’s Denise-Charlotte Becker two shots further adrift on 9-under par. Both Hall and Luna were also in the hunt sitting at 8-under par, knowing a good round would leave them with a good finish.
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Davies started with six straight pars before back-to-back birdies on the 8th and 9th holes left her with a one stroke advantage over Luna who had made a strong case for the title with 4-under par around the front nine moving her to 12-under par. Becker and Zackrisson had fallen out of contention with too many bogeys, while Hall, the 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters champion, had also moved up the leaderboard and made the turn at 10-under par to set up an intriguing final nine holes.
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After two bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes, Davies was all of a sudden under extreme pressure later saying “I was starting to panic a bit.” However, proving her true champion qualities and displaying the power not many others have in the women’s game, Davies unleashed a drive on the short 291-yard par 4 that ended up four feet from the hole where she drained the eagle putt to take her lead to three shots with six to play.
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Luna made a late charge after holing her tee shot at the par-3 16th hole to move within one shot but failed to make further inroads bogeying the last to finish four shots off the pace. Davies made two further birdies at 16 and 18 to secure her first win since the 2008 LG Bing Lee Women’s NSW Open. The drive on 12 was obviously very pleasing to Davies as she said in her press conference “it was probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit. I said to Johnnie: For me, that’s as good as I can do.” She also conveyed her fierce competitive nature saying, “I love winning and that is what I do this for.”
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The ALPG contingent was headed by Karen Lunn who fired a first round 6-under par 66 to take the early lead but a third round 4-over par 76 put paid to her chances. She finished in a tie for 18th at 5-under par total 283. Lynn Brooky (T21) also had a solid tournament finishing at 3-under par while Frances Bondad (T40), Joanne Mills (T46), Vicky Thomas (T49) and Bronwyn Mullins-Lane (T53) also made the weekend play. The players now move to Sweden for the €250,000 Göteborg Masters at Lycke Golf Club in Gothenburg.
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(Wiener-Neustadt, Austria)