(28 September 2009 – Tenerife, Spain)
rn
England&aposs Felicity Johnson became the tenth first time winner in season 2009 after recording a two-shot victory at the Tenerife Ladies Open on Sunday. Birdies on the 71st and 72nd holes lifted the 22-year-old to the top of the leaderboard, carding a superb final round of 5-under par 67. Becky Brewerton, who had led after both the second and third rounds also had birdie chances on the final two holes but couldn’t match Johnson’s heroics and had to settle for outright second. In third place was Germany’s Bettina Hauert, a distant 5 shots behind Brewerton.
rn
rnWith a three shot lead heading into the final round, Brewerton would have backed herself to finish it off; such has been her consistent play in recent times. However, she knew after three holes that she had a fight on her hands when Johnson drew within a shot. Johnson remained bogey-free through the front nine to post two-under, while Brewerton matched two birdies with two bogeys to hold on to a slender one shot cushion at 12-under par. No other player had made a run at the leaders with Hauert back on 7-under the nearest.
rn
rnBoth Johnson and Brewerton started the back nine well, matching pars on the 10th and 11th before they each made birdie at the par-412th. Johnson then joined the Welsh No.1 with a birdie at the 13th, gave it back at the next and rejoined the lead with another birdie at the 15th. All the while, Brewerton remained solid with three pars before both players made bogey at the 16th hole. This left them even with two holes to play, with the deadlock broken by a 25-foot ‘bomb’ by Johnson on the 17th. She then wrapped up her first title after knocking a hybrid to six-feet at the par-5 18th, eventually tapping-in for birdie.
rn
rnAfter her round and collecting the cheque for €45,000.00, she said, “It’s all a bit surreal at the moment really but I’ve worked so hard for this so it’s just fantastic that it’s finally come together.” She also mentioned that she’d celebrate with a night of go-karting before a day off in Tenerife on Monday.
rn
rnJoanne Mills continued her resurgence to be the best performed ALPG Member. After a final round of 4-under par 68, she moved up the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 9th at 2-under par total 286. Karen Lunn was the next best just two shots behind Mills in a tie for 12th with Rebecca Coakley the only other ALPG Member to make the cut, finishing in a tie for 30th.
rn
rnThe LET continues this week with the limited field €200,000 Madrid Ladies Masters with ALPG being represented by Frances Bondad and Karen Lunn.
rn
Photo by Paul Melville – Joanne Mills