Solheim Cup star Celine Boutier rose a significant 38 places to 11th in the recent Race to Costa del Sol rankings, courtesy of a solo second place finish at the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic where she narrowly missed out in a sudden-death playoff to Minjee Lee.
The French two-time LET winner collected the most points (90) of any player in the field, as a result of Lee not being eligible as a non-member.
Long-time Race leader Emily Kristine Pedersen maintained her lead atop the standings by more than 120 points from Sweden’s Julia Engstrom and a further 120 points ahead of Manon De Roey in third, despite missing out on points last week due to a 41st place finish.
With points only awarded to the top 30 players, Pedersen has not finished outside the top 15 on each of her previous six appearances including a victory at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Masters and a runner-up finish at the co-sanctioned Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
All to play for this week as the LET visit Saudi Arabia for the first time, a win for any of the top-ten players would take a significant dent out of Pedersen’s lead though only Engstrom is able to mathematically pass her on this week’s performance alone.
The race for the prestigious ‘Rookie of the Year’ title continues to add more drama to the standings, with Australian 19-year-old Stephanie Kyriacou 17th place finish enough to see her pass English star Alice Hewson by 2 points and move in to 5th place with Hewson pushed to 6th.
Kylie Henry’s dazzling final round course record 63 (-9) not only catapulted her into the top-10 last week but moves her up a spot into 7th. For more news and information on the Race to Costa del Sol, check out the full rankings HERE