After missing out on a home win by the finest margins at the Joburg Ladies Open, attention now turns to the Investec SA Women’s Open for Casandra Alexander as looks to secure a famous first victory of the 2026 season.
Alexander fired a 66 (-7) on Sunday at Randpark to force herself into a playoff with France’s Agathe Laisne and Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley. The scorecard included two eagles and a dropped shot on the final hole before the South African was eliminated in the playoff on the first extra hole.
The runner-up finishes adds to a season of near misses for Alexander, now 40th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, who has finished second three times on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and once more on the Sunshine Ladies Tour (SLT).
Despite the close calls, the winning mindset remains as strong as ever for South Africa’s highest ranked golfer in the world.
“It’s always a special week,” Alexander said, who will tee up at Royal Cape Golf Club this week. “In my eyes coming from Joburg, the Joburg Ladies Open is just as cool, but the SA Open is the big one. It’s your home title and it’s the one everyone wants to win, whether you’re male or female. It’s definitely a special week.”
At World No 40 Alexander now sits in her highest ever position in the Rolex Rankings. The spot also represents a rapid rise for the 26-year-old who was outside the top-200 at this stage two years ago.
“I actually got a Facebook reminder reminding me that I won the Sunshine Ladies Tour Order of Merit a year ago today,” Alexander continued. “At the bottom of the post I say how I was really happy to jump into the top-100 of the world. So it’s pretty cool to see that this time last year I was top-100, and now we’re top-40. Hopefully we can keep going.
“It’s something I’m proud of but it’s something you have to protect and keeping working to move up. It’s so easy to drop down. I’m exciting for the week and hopefully we can keep moving up in the world rankings.”
The South African is once again the highest ranked player in the field this week with Canada’s Anna Huang the next best sitting 84th in the Rolex Rankings. She also sits second on the LET Order of Merit following the strong start to the 2026 season.
Alexander is expecting a low scoring week in Cape Town as she strives join Ashleigh Buhai and Lee-Anne Pace in the winner’s circle at their home open.
“It’s a good golf course,” the home favourite said on the challenge ahead. “I’m been playing it since we were young and we played in Cape Town events. We’ve had some events here on the Sunshine Ladies Tour too. I like it, it’s a great layout and if the wind gets going it can get tough. It is very soft so I think the scores will be low this week. I’m looking forward to the challenge. You’ve got to hit good tee shots and be in the right places.”
Alexander gets underway at the 2026 Investec SA Women’s Open at 08:00 local time playing alongside England’s Cara Gainer and Austria’s Emma Spitz.
Watch live and keep up to date with all the action from the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook | #InvestecSAWomensOpen.
