Beth Allen kept her advantage at the top of the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit after the third Ladies European Tour event of 2016 was played at the RACV Ladies Masters in Australia.
With earnings of €46,315 from three events, the 34-year-old Californian is more than €4000 clear of Charley Hull from England, with Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen in third place.
Beth’s spectacular start to the season began with a tie for 24th at the ISPS HANDA New Zealand Women’s Open at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch. She seized pole position on the LET rankings with a tie for fourth at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open at The Grange in Adelaide and then finished her trip down under with 45th place in the RACV Ladies Masters at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
After generously donating a kidney to her brother, Dan, five years ago in March 2011, Beth has been a consistently high performer on the LET but her hard work was finally rewarded in July 2015, when she earned her first professional title at the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club in England. This was also the first time that four-time Order of Merit winner Sophie Gustafson took the role of Beth’s caddie.
The next LET tournament is the World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills Dongguan in China and if Beth’s form continues for the rest of the season, there is the tantalising possibility of having two LET Order of Merit winners on the same player-caddie team.
Meanwhile, Justine Dreher of France also made a sensational start to 2016. With earnings of €10,275 from three tournaments, the German-born 23-year-old, who sits in 18th place on the Order of Merit, leads the Rookie of the Year rankings ahead of Noemi Jimenez Martin, with Gemma Dryburgh and Olivia Cowan tied for third.
