Manon De Roey produced a magnificent 63 (-9) on day four of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund to equal the course record at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club and land the biggest payday of her career.
The Belgian led the charge on Sunday with a phenomenal display as nine birdies saw her soar up the leaderboard to finish T3 on 19-under par.
Bettered only by tournament winner Lydia Ko (-21) and India’s Aditi Ashok (-20), De Roey now goes home with a mouth-watering sum of $235,000 (€219,767).
“It definitely is [the biggest pay cheque of my career],” the 31-year-old said. “I didn’t really think about it until now, but yeah, it worked out. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the money, but it’s definitely helped. Maybe I can now pay off my mortgage.”
Eight shots behind leader Lilia Vu after 54 holes, De Roey got off to the perfect start in round four as she birdied the opening two holes.
Making the most of the calm winds on day four, the Ladies European Tour (LET) winner then birdied six, eight and nine to go out in 31 and soar into the top five.
With Lexi Thompson equalling the course record on Saturday with a superb performance of her own, three more birdies on 10, 14, and 15 then left De Roey needing an eagle on the last to better the score.
But despite the near-perfect approach shot, the Belgian’s effort unfortunately came up short as she settled for a tap-in birdie.
De Roey said: “I definitely knew I was on for a course record because I left my eagle putt very short. I was a bit nervous on that putt.
“I had some shaky hands, so I’m happy I hit the green because that was also very nerve-racking. I only had a 7-iron from 191 meters, so I’ll take that. I took a club less because I thought I had some adrenaline going.”
With the 63 (-9), De Roey becomes the fifth player to shoot that score at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, joining Thompson, Stephanie Kyriacou (2020), Lydia Ko (2021) and Kelly Whaley (2022) as the players to achieve the feat.
“I’m super happy,” she said. “My whole game was solid throughout today. I think I only had one bad shot, just one drive, so really solid. I just had to look at the putter and it went in!”
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #AramcoSaudiLadiesIntl.
