(30 August 2010 – Helsinki, Finland).jpg)
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The margin may have only been three shots, but South Africa&aposs Lee-Anne Pace completely dominated the field to win her third title of the year at the Finnair Masters in Helsinki on Sunday. Pace finished at 14-under par after rounds of 66, 64 and 69 on the par-71 Helsinki Golf Club. In second place was Scotland’s Vikki Laing who holed her second shot at the last hole to finish at 11-under par, while four players tied for third at 7-under par; Christel Boeljon (NL), Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den), Carin Koch (Swe) and Mollie Fankhauser (USA).
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rnOn top form after finishing the last two tournaments with a win and a runner-up, Pace set herself up for this win with a sensational bogey-free second round of 7-under par, which saw her head into the final day with a three shot lead. The final day was delayed by heavy rains making some greens and tees unplayable before play eventually got under way at 12.30pm.
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rnLaing looked the only likely challenger but a double-bogey at the 7th hole saw her slip five shots behind and it appeared that Pace just had to stay out of trouble on the back-nine and she would win comfortably. That she did, adding birdies at the 14th, 15th and 17th holes after an earlier bogey at the 13th. She finished with a final round of 2-under par 69 and walked up the last hole with a five shot lead before watching good friend Laing hole-out from 168 yards to close the gap to three.
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After collecting her maiden tournament victory at the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open in June, Pace has since finished T5 Ladies Open of Portugal, T4 Tenerife Ladies Open, T21 Ricoh Women’s British Open, Winner S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe, T2 Ladies Scottish Open and winner here in Finland. She has moved to a commanding lead on the Henderson Money List with €248,529 in season earnings, €43,660 ahead of second-placed Melissa Reid. Asked about her goals, the South African listed her desire to win the Money List saying, “To win the Henderson Money List would be the ultimate dream for me. It gives you a ten year exemption, also personal pride. I’m going to go to LPGA Qualifying School….when Dubai comes along I’m going to decide whether I’ll do final stage or not depending how far ahead or behind I am on the Money List.”
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rnRebecca Coakley was again the best of the ALPG contingent, completing her final round strongly to finish in a tie for 10th at 4-under par. Rebecca Flood again posted a solid result in her rookie season, also finishing strongly to tie for 18th at even par, one shot ahead of Karen Lunn in a tie for 21st. Kate Combes and Nikki Garrett also made the cut tied for 39th at 4-over par.
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rnThis week the players move to Austria for the €200,000 UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen.
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rnPhotos courtesy of LET.
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