After several close-calls and injury set-backs, Laura Fünfstück can now call herself a Ladies European Tour (LET) winner with the German’s victory at the PIF London Championship one of the most popular in recent memory.
Fünfstück carded rounds of 67-70-72 at Centurion Club to clinch her maiden title and earn just shy of €200,000 in the Individual competition – a life-changing sum for the 30-year-old who surpassed 100 LET appearances earlier this year.
But perhaps most significantly, the victory completes Fünfstück’s “long road back” after the German was sidelined for over a year with a back injury between August 2021 and August 2022.
“I’m really happy for me and my team,” the German said. “They’ve gone through all the highs and lows with me, all the injuries. I’m super pleased and really proud of myself. It’s been a long road back for me. There were times when I didn’t think I would be in this position ever really. It just shows how much it means to me and how much the practice has paid off. It’s been a long journey but I’m very pleased now.”
Having turned professional in 2018, Fünfstück established herself as a consistent star on the LET prior to her 2021 injury. With top-five finishes in Morocco, Spain, France and Dubai, the German was unquestionably on the brink of a breakthrough victory before the devastating setback.
Returning in the summer of 2022, Fünfstück would miss 18 out of 21 cuts before a fantastic week at the inaugural La Sella Open saw her finish second to Nuria Iturrioz in a nail-biting playoff. It was a result which kickstarted everything for the German once again.
“La Sella was a huge step in the right direction,” Fünfstück said. “I came up just a little short, but it was probably the happiest second place ever because I was just so happy to even be in that position. I think my expectations increased since then. I now want to be in contention every week. That’s the standard that I want for myself and what I expect of myself.”
Backing that up with top-five finishes in France and Germany over the last couple of years, Fünfstück completed her resilient return with victory at Centurion last week, recovering well from a nervy start on Sunday to hoist the new PIF London Championship trophy.
“Finishing birdie-birdie to win it, I was super pleased,” she said. “Hopefully it’s the first of many and we’re just getting started. It’s massively – I don’t want to say validated me – but it some ways it has. I’ve been on Tour a while and everybody defines themselves a little as to whether they’re a winner or not. Obviously this massively helps.
“There’s parts of me that have always backed myself, but I wouldn’t have necessarily backed myself to win this one. But I did enough to put myself in contention and then getting it over the line shows that I can do it. It will only help in the future to back myself more.”
Fünfstück now sits 11th in the 2025 LET Order of Merit following her breakthrough victory in London. The German will next tee up at the Aramco Houston Championship in September.
