- Perrine Delacour defeats amateur Helen Briem in a playoff
- Frenchwoman moves up to 12th in the Order of Merit
Perrine Delacour secured her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) victory winning in a one-hole playoff over German amateur Helen Briem.
At the end of 54 holes, the duo were tied on 11-under-par and headed back to the 18th for the playoff.
Briem hit her tee shot into the rough on the right, as Delacour striped it in the middle of the fairway at Allerum Golf Club.
The Frenchwoman made the green in two and rolled in her birdie putt to clinch her maiden title on the LET.
“The final round was definitely stressful,” said Delacour. “I made a little mistake looking at the leaderboard on 15 and made a bogey. I made two birdies to finish to get into the playoff and then a birdie to finish it off was pretty awesome.
“I had more experience, the fact that I’m a professional. It was actually my first playoff! I played it like match play, and it seemed to work out. I am speechless.”
Delacour sat in a share of third place overnight on six-under-par after producing rounds of 68 (-4) and 70 (-2) on the first two days.
The 30-year-old, who is an LET rookie, made a bogey on the third hole before rolling in an eagle on the fifth.
She made further birdies on seven, 12 and 14 before dropping a shot on 15 but then made birdies on 17 and 18 to reach a total of 11-under-par.
Delacour continued: “I came to the LET for Solheim Cup for sure, but it’s nice to have two cards and to jump around. This week I was not in the U.S. Open, so to be able to play on the LET when I can, is great.
“It’s definitely nice to have the opportunity and now that I know it’s opened some doors to the Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s Open. I’m happy about it because I had a rough start on the LPGA this year, but with this win that helps a lot.”
After her win, the Frenchwoman sent a message to her family and read messages of her support and she can’t wait to see her niece and nephew tomorrow.
The new LET winner added: “I haven’t been able to watch all of the messages. They always support me, my family. They’re my number one fans. It’s pretty good because tomorrow morning I get to see my niece and nephew and they will see the trophy; they will be so happy.
“I always call them at least once a week to see them growing. It’s going to be really nice tomorrow morning – even if they wake me up super early, I don’t care. I will take all of their energy for the couple of hours I am with them.”
Amateur Briem, who is a two-time PING Junior Solheim Cup winner, fired the round of the week with a 64 (-8) on the final day.
The German made her first birdies on five and six before dropping her only shot of the day on the seventh.
Briem made back-to-back birdies on eight and nine with another on 11 before finishing in style with four birdies in her final four holes to set the clubhouse lead on 11-under-par.
“If you roll some putts in and you get a run going and you get into the flow, that’s what happened especially on the back nine,” said the teenager.
“I even missed some very short birdie putts, so there were even more birdie opportunities. Overall, I’m really happy with eight-under.
“Even though I definitely did not play my best on the first two days, which were okay but nothing more. To be in contention is great and gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”
Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup and India’s Pranavi Urs finished in a share of third place on 10-under-par.
It was a final round of 68 (-4) for Broch Estrup, who had plenty of support on the sidelines from family and friends.
“Once again, I’m not completely in control. To be honest, I hit a couple of really bad shots especially of the tee today,” said the 2015 Helsingborg Open champion.
“But I managed to get it around and then on the back nine I played really solid. I had a few opportunities and I’m really proud of myself for the back nine I played today.
“I was very nervous. I woke up at 5 am this morning. Just to get myself through the last two days has been really nice and I’m proud of that and to do it in front of a lot of family and friends, who came over to watch me, makes it even sweeter.
“It’s so nice, I’m almost crying talking about having them here. It means a lot to me that they want to make the effort to come over and watch me do what I do.”
Three players finished in a tie for fifth place with Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley, Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson and England’s Cara Gainer all on nine-under-par.
Belgium’s Manon De Roey and Spain’s Mireia Prat were one shot further back in a share of eighth place.
England’s Annabell Fuller, India’s Tvesa Malik and Germany’s Patricia Isabel Schmidt ended the week in T10.
In the LET Order of Merit, England’s Bronte Law still sits at the top of the standings and now has 1,270.15 points with Alexandra Försterling in second place.
Belgium’s De Roey closed the gap slightly in third place and now has 1,122.17 points with Broch Estrup moving up to 10th place, Urs into 11th and after her win, Delacour is in 12th place.
Next up for the LET is the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed which takes place at Vasatorps Golfklubb between June 6-9, 2024.
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