(31 August 2009 – Tali, Finland)
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Beatriz Recari from Pamplona in Spain secured her first career title in dramatic fashion at the Finnair Masters at the Helsinki Golf Club. After coughing up a 5-stroke lead on the final day, the diminutive Spaniard holed a 4-iron from 161 metres at the first playoff hole to take the title from Denmark’s Iben Tinning. It was scenes reminiscent of Craig Parry’s holed 6-iron to beat Scott Verplank in a playoff in the 2004 Ford Championship at Doral.
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rnAfter opening rounds of 65 and a course record 64, Recari had led from the outset and looked set for a comfortable final round on way to victory. However, golf is a funny game and pressure can do all sorts of things, especially starting the day with a bogey at the first. By the ninth hole, Recari’s lead was back to 2 shots with Tinning having played a solid front nine of 1-under to Recari’s 2-over.
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rnRecari steadied with a birdie at the 10th but it was matched by Tinning who added another on the 12th to move within one shot. The two players were tied after Recari made bogey at 15. By the 18th they were still tied on 11-under par and the Spaniard was battling to save pars. She sunk a clutch 5-footer at the last to reach the playoff number.
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rnBoth players found the fairway on the first playoff hole, the 347-metre 18th before Recari ended Tinning’s hopes with a sublime 4-iron that landed 5 metres short and rolled up and into the cup. “That was definitely the shot of my life, one to talk about to the grandchildren,” said the elated first-time winner. She also paid tribute to her caddie saying, “To be honest, I owe a lot to my caddie because I hit a four-iron in the round and it was so short so I told him, “hybrid.” He said, “We’ll stick to the club,” and it went in, so I owe him some percentage for that. I was talking to him and he was telling me to just enjoy and have fun. I visualised the shot and he chose the club. It was the only iron I hit well all day.”
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rnNikki Garrett returned to form with final round of 4-under par 67 to move up the leaderboard into a tie for 7th. It was her third Top-10 of the year and her best finish in an Official LET Money List event in 2009. Her final round was bogey-free with two birdies on each nine. Karen Lunn posted her third Top-20 of the year, finishing in a tie for 13th at 4-under par. Garrett moved up six spots to 28th on the Henderson Money List while Lunn remained at 20th. Melanie Bryden (T31) and Mianne Bagger (T47) also made the cut.
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rnThe LET moves to Austria in two weeks for the €250,000.00 UNIQA Ladies Golf Open Presented by Raiffeisen.
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Photo by Anthony Powter – Beatriz Recari