Mariajo Uribe secured victory at the Women’s NSW Open after sinking her birdie putt on the 18th at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club.
The Colombian held the lead after 36 holes thanks to rounds of 67 (-5) and 65 (-7) on the first two days, but she had a fierce battle against England’s Bronte Law on the final day.
It all came down to the final hole with Law and Uribe tied on 13-under-par apiece and the two-time Olympian rolled in her putt on the last to seal the win with a total of 14-under-par.
Uribe, whose last title was the 2011 HSBC Brazil Cup, said: “Last time I won was 2011 on a Tour and some girls were probably in kindergarten that were playing here this week!
“It’s nice to come here, I just talked to my husband. He said my son kept waking up during the night. It makes it worth it, I’m going to be away from them for almost a month, so having a win I’m pretty confident I should be in Paris. Mission accomplished.”
Uribe started her round well with a birdie at the first but then made back-to-back bogeys on holes four and five.
She was soon joined at the top of the leaderboard by Law and on the ninth, the duo matched each other rolling in birdies.
On the back nine, it was Law who pulled ahead before a couple of errors on 13 and 14; while Uribe made a birdie on 14 to go back into the lead.
The two-time Olympian dropped a shot on the 15th but bounced back with a birdie on 16 before rolling in her birdie on 18 for a round of 70 (-2).
“I am just glad it’s over! I had good fun today, Bronte [Law] is one of my good friends – we went to the same school,” Uribe explained.
“It was fun to see her making some birdies. I just wanted to play well. If she was going to take that trophy at the end but I was going to play well, I was okay with that. I’m glad that putt went in on the last hole.
“I knew the birdies were out there. The other days I was making them, so I just tried to stay patient, and I knew that birdie on nine was really big for me to not let her go that far and stay patient. The experience worked today that way. I knew I could finish with a couple of birdies and luckily, I did.”
Law produced a round of 67 (-5) on the final day which included eight birdies and three bogeys to finish in outright second place on 13-under-par.
The Englishwoman now has a win, a third place and a second place in her last three starts on the LET and has extended her advantage at the top of the Order of Merit.
Law explained: “I did what I said I was going to do, I went out there and tried to post a number. I was really happy with how I played. I had a couple of bogeys that I got pretty unlucky with and didn’t really do much wrong.
“My tempo was a little out for three holes, I dropped two shots but then I pushed on again and was really trying to make some birdies on the way in. I made one, I was pretty close to a couple of others.
“It’s easy to be disappointed to not get it done, but I was four shots back going into the start of the day. Mariajo played some solid golf on that back nine and it makes it difficult to catch someone in that situation.
“Last three results I haven’t finished outside the top three, my game is in a really good spot. I’m looking forward to next week and hopefully, I can do one better there.”
Spain’s Marta Martin ended the week in third place on nine-under-par after a final round of 70 (-2) at Magenta Shores.
“I’m feeling happy, I have been playing pretty solid golf since December,” said Martin. “I am feeling very positive about my game.
“I’m glad of the work I have done and I have not let my feelings take over. I’m happy with the way I have performed and how I have stuck to my plan. Finishing top five, playing good, scoring well, having my fiancé on the bag it’s all good.”
England’s Cara Gainer and Pei-Ying Tsai of Chinese Taipei finished in a share of fourth place on eight-under-par.
Denmarj’s Nicole Broch Estrup and Australian amateur Justice Bosio were one shot further back in a tie for sixth place.
Four players rounded out the top 10 with Germany’s Leonie Harm, Spain’s Teresa Toscano, New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori and Panama’s Laura Sluman all in T8 on six-under-par.
The LET heads to Coffs Harbour and Bonville Golf Resort for next week’s Australian Women’s Classic which takes place April 5-7.
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