DELACOUR CLINCHES SECOND LET TITLE

Perrine Delacour secured her second Ladies European Tour (LET) victory at the Investec SA Women’s Open, in what were windy conditions on Sunday, around Erinvale Country and Golf Estate. 

A round of 70 (-2), which included four birdies and two bogeys, was enough for Delacour to secure her second win on the LET on 14-under par. She was kept under pressure with the leaderboard constantly shifting on the final day, with so many players in contention. 

The Frenchwoman produced a great shot on the 15^th hole to give herself a tap-in birdie putt. She followed this up with another birdie on the 16th to make it back-to-back and a solid finish in front of the spectators.  

“I’m really happy and this win feels pretty good. I didn’t start the way I wanted to, but I had a great shot on 15, probably my best of the week, tapping in a birdie and kept that momentum on 16 to make a great putt”, said the two-time LET winner.  

“On the last hole, I just wanted to be on the green as I knew I was leading, but I didn’t know by how many shots.” 

Delacour came T65 in last week’s Joburg Ladies Open, so will be very pleased with this result. She continued: “It’s definitely great to win as I’ve had a rough start to the year. I’ve got so much support from my team who keep believing in me and trusting the process, so I’m pretty happy about that. I was looking at the leaderboard a lot but was also just trying to stay focused.” 

The 31-year-old will be competing in the LPGA next week so will be going back to Orlando. “My brother will be on the bag next week so looking forward to that. We’re going to both meet in in LA and probably have some celebrations with the family. Family is really important to me, so it’s going to be nice to have them with me”, she continued.  

Delacour claimed her maiden LET title last year at the Dormy Open Helsingborg, in a playoff with Germany’s Helen Briem. 

Two shots behind finished Casandra Alexander who fired a round of the day of 66 (-6) to end the week on 12-under par. 

“It felt pretty good today”, said Alexander. “There were two bogeys on the front nine which are still going to bother me for a long time. I just said to my caddie this morning, let’s just hit ourselves into space, make some good putts, and see what happens. My manager was walking with and me and I could see he was getting a bit impatient, but I said, don’t worry, I like the back nine, let’s just take it easy.” 

The last 18 holes included a string of birdies and an eagle to make it a good last day for the 25-year-old playing on home soil. 

“I looked at the leaderboard a couple times on the back nine”, she continued. “I said to myself let’s try and get to ten [under-par], because I felt like that wasn’t too much of a push. The birdie on the last hole was probably one of the best feelings ever and I haven’t even won the tournament, so that was pretty cool in front of the home crowd.” 

This tournament marks the last Sunshine Ladies Tour event of the season and so Alexander claimed the Investec Order of Merit, finishing on 3,149 points. 

Australia’s Kelsey Bennett and England’s Bronte Law finished in a tie for third place on 11-under par after 72 holes.  

Bennett, who started the day in T8, dropped her only shot of the day on the 5^th hole, before having three-birdies in a row on the back nine.  

“I just gave myself plenty of opportunities so I’m glad a few on the back nine dropped”, said Bennett. I wasn’t looking at the leaderboard too much until I had three birdies in a row and then said to Michele [caddie and partner], I need to see. Then that felt pretty good.” 

Law had a bogey-free final day which made it a solid finish for the three-time LET winner.  

In solo fifth place was South Africa’s Kiera Floyd. The 20-year-old, who was two shots off the pace heading into the final day, had great home support throughout the whole round.   

Three players secured a tie for sixth place with Hong Kong’s Ginnie Ding, Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck, and Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini, all posted nine-under par after the four rounds.  

India’s Diksha Dagar and Wales’ Chloe Williams rounded out the top 10, with eight-under par on their scorecards. 

South Africa’s Gia Raad won the Jacky Mercer trophy – being the leading amateur after 72 holes, in 50^th place. The trophy was presented by Barbara Pestana, Executive Director of the WPGA on Sunday. It was aptly named the Jackie Mercer Trophy in memory of one of South Africa’s finest women golfers and co-founder of the WPGA. Today, this trophy boasts a number of illustrious names, including a multiple winner, who went onto turn professional and is currently South Africa’s leading woman professional golfer, namely Ashleigh Buhai. 

In the LET Order of Merit, Mimi Rhodes still leads the standings with 1,036.50 points to her name. England’s Cara Gainer remains in second place on 905.18, and now Casandra Alexander is in third on 651.10. 

After eight tournaments played, Rhodes continues to lead the Rookie of the Year standings, followed by Kajsa Arwefjall, and England’s Darcey Harry. 

The next event on the LET schedule is the Aramco Korea Championship, taking place at New Korea Country Club between 9-11 May. 

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