- Alison Lee fires final round 65 (-7) to win by eight shots in Riyadh
- American smashes the 54-hole scoring record in flawless fashion
Alison Lee made more history on Sunday at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Riyadh as she fired a final round 65 (-7) to cruise to an eight-shot victory and break the 54-hole scoring record on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
Having etched her name into the record books with back-to-back rounds of 61 (-11) on Friday and Saturday at Riyadh Golf Club, the American continued her relentless form carding seven birdies and dropping no shots to ease to a second LET title.
With a winning score of 29-under par, Lee crushes the previous record set by Scotland’s Kylie Henry (-24, 2014 Ladies German Open) and equals the best overall tally set by France’s Gwladys Nocera – a 72-hole score from the 2008 Goteborg Masters.
On top of that, Lee becomes the second player in history to win an LET tournament without dropping a single shot – Italy’s Diana Luna recorded the other at the 2011 UniCredit Ladies German Open.
“It’s surreal to think I played that well,” Lee said. “Shooting 11-under, 11-under over the first two days, I’ve obviously never done that in my career. I’m really happy to be here!
“I feel like for three days I played really confident golf. Coming off a really good week last week (Lee finished runner-up at the BMW Ladies Championship on the LPGA) gave me a lot of confidence coming into this week.”
Starting the day six shots ahead of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, winning captain of the Team competition, the pair both got off to solid starts birdying the 3rd and 4th holes.
Things then got interesting when the Solheim Cup star eagled the 5th and birdied the 6th to reduce Lee’s lead to three.
But a clutch birdie from Lee on the 7th followed by a bogey from Ciganda on the 8th quickly ended any sign of a dramatic comeback, with the American able to cruise to victory on the back nine after making another birdie on the 9th.
“She [Carlota] started off the round great,” Lee said, whose other LET victory came at the 2021 Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande. “But I just kept my cool. I knew I had been hitting it well. I knew there was a ton of birdie opportunities coming down the stretch.”
Chasing the LET tournament record of 29-under par, Lee picked up birdies on the 11th, 13th, and 15th to stand on the brink of more history with three holes remaining.
Two pars on the 16th and 17th meant it all came down to the 18th – just as it had yesterday with Lee chasing down the 18-hole scoring record – but the 28-year-old’s six-foot effort had too much pace as she settled for a par.
Lee said: “I’m really happy with the composure I was able to keep throughout the round. I didn’t want to embarrass myself losing a six shot lead coming into today! It’s nice to be able to able to play that freely.”
Ciganda finished eight shots back in second place on 21-under par, her best ever three round tally on the LET. Solheim Cup teammate Charley Hull fired a final round 66 (-6) to finish in solo third on 18-under par.
England’s Bronte Law ended the week one shot back after a wonderful 65 (-7) on Sunday. The two-time LET winner shares fourth place with Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab who jumps to third in the Race to Costa del Sol.
Major winners Minjee Lee from Australia and Pernilla Lindberg from Sweden share sixth on 16-under par – the latter recording her 26th top-10 finish on the LET and first since 2021.
Three players make up the top-10 in a tie for eighth on 15-under, a trio which includes Major winners Lilia Vu from the USA and England’s Georgia Hall, as well as South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace.
In the 2023 Race to Costa Del Sol, Cheenglab makes the most significant move jumping from fifth to third on 1,641.72 points. The Thai star also extends her lead in the Rookie of the Year standings. The top two of France’s Celine Boutier and India’s Diksha Dagar remain the same, the left-hander now 72.27 points behind the Major winner.
Following the conclusion of the final Aramco Team Series event of the season, two tournaments are left in the 2023 LET schedule, with a Spanish doubleheader taking place in November at the Mallorca Ladies Open and Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana.
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