(8 August 2011 – County Meath, Ireland)
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Norway&aposs Suzann Pettersen collected her second Ladies Irish Open title with a supreme display on both Saturday and Sunday. The Rolex World No.3 set up the win with her course record 9-under par 63 in the second round on Saturday. She followed that with a stunning final round of 64 to finish at 18-under par, six shots in front of Spain’s Azahara Munoz. In a tie for third just one shot behind Munoz were Englishwoman Melissa Reid and American Alison Walshe.
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rnPettersen won her first Open at Portmarnock Links in 2008. Having tied for 23rd at Killeen Castle last year, she was delighted to have shown her class on the course where this year’s Solheim Cup will be played. “It’s been a great week; it’s been a short week,” said Pettersen, who flew in from Norway to compete in the event on Thursday, the day before it started.
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rn“I just really like the way this course is playing, a little bit firmer. I played great with my putter and it was really nice and hot.”
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rnThe 30-year-old from Oslo had started the final day tied for the lead with Holland’s Dewi Claire Schreefel. However, Schreefel fell out of contention with a triple-bogey eight on the second hole. She finished with a final round of 77 to share 16th.
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rnOn the other hand, Pettersen got off to a flyer with a birdie at the first, then birdied the fifth, seventh and ninth holes for an outward total of 32 to reach 14-under par. At that stage she was three shots clear of Munoz and it looked like she could coast to victory.
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Pettersen continued on her birdie streak holing a fast, downhill putt from 12-feet for birdie on the 11th and then rolled in a 20-footer on the 13th to get to 16-under. That kept her three shots clear of Reid who had made three straight birdies from the 12th hole. In the end, Reid’s challenge ended with a double bogey on the par-five 15th, which Pettersen birdied, before holing another 20-footer for birdie on the 16th hole.
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rnPettersen finished with a par in front of a packed gallery, collecting her 12th worldwide career victory and a €60,000 first prize. She had started the tournament with two bogeys on the first day and then proceeded to play the next 52 holes in 20-under par, bogey-free!
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rnAfterwards she commented on her performance the previous year and the upcoming Solheim Cup, “This is my second win in the Irish Open. Last year I was very disappointed with the way I performed so it was nice to come back and perform to my standard. I definitely like what I see right now. It won’t be long before we come back. It just shows that there’s going to be a lot of birdies made out there in The Solheim. I think it will be a great match overall.”
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rnPettersen is guaranteed a place in Europe’s Solheim Cup squad next month, either from the Ladies European Tour points’ list or from the Rolex World Rankings, but Munoz made her case for a wild card as the only player with three rounds in the 60s with a 67, 68 and 69.
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rn“I played really well and I have to congratulate Suzann, because she’s 18-under. I think that’s pretty amazing. I played really well. Fair enough, I left a couple out there and had a double on four but I played really well and I’m not going to complain about my week,” Munoz said.
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rnAs for the ALPG contingent, Karen Lunn performed strongly, finishing in a tie for 6th place at 8-under par. Lynnette Brooky was the next best in a tie for 21st while Nikki Garrett (T29) and Danielle Montgomery (T58) were the only others to make the 36-hole cut which fell at +2.