Ladies European Tour rookie professional Emily Kristine Pedersen from Denmark and fifth year LET member Klara Spilkova from the Czech Republic have qualified for the Evian Championship: the fifth and final Major of the 2015 season taking place from September 10-13.
Pedersen topped the qualifier with rounds of 72 and 66 over two days of glorious sunshine at the beautiful Evian Resort Golf Course in the French Alps to finish at four under par and two strokes ahead of Spilkova, who shot 69 and 71.
Pedersen, who tied for 47th place the 2014 Evian Championship after qualifying by winning the European Amateur Championship in 2013, will now make her second appearance in the tournament, while Spilkova will play for the first time.
Pedersen said: “It feels really amazing to qualify. I played in the tournament last year so I know how good it is and I can’t wait to be back in September.”
The 19-year-old from Smoerum has made a sensational start to her professional career. Since finishing fourth at Lalla Aicha Tour School in December, she has only played in two Ladies European Tour events, but finished seventh at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco and 20th at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open. She will now return to high school to take eight exams this month before finishing on 24th June.
Spilkova is another young player with a bright future ahead of her. The 20-year-old from Prague, who last year recorded a career best finish of fifth at the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open presented by RESPECT, came to watch the Evian Championship as a junior a decade ago.
She said: “I’m feeling great that I’ve made it to Evian. I went to the Evian Masters when I was around 10 as a small girl with my dad and it will be so good to be playing. It’s beautiful! I remember watching Laura Davies on the first tee and everyone used a driver except her: she used a 3-iron and I thought, ‘wow!’ I was watching everyone like Morgan Pressel, Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer. My dad bought me a head cover for my driver and I had it for eight years, so I was always thinking about Evian and telling everyone: I will play there one day. And now I will!”
This was the second qualifying event and for the first time this year, both players will receive a grant of €8,000 from Société Générale to finance their travel expenses. Lacoste will provide an allowance to be used to choose from their range of clothing and accessories.
