Three weeks after securing her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title at the PIF London Championship, Germany’s Laura Fünfstück is returning to the fairways in Houston.
The 30-year-old held her nerve on the final day at Centurion Club to win the Individual title by one stroke thanks to a birdie on the last hole.
Fünfstück has always planned to take three weeks off between London and Houston but was now able to use it to celebrate with friends and family in Germany and the United Kingdom.
“The first week I spent in London, the second week I went to Germany and then the third week I was back in London again,” said the LET winner. “In London, it was a mixture of seeing my coach, having a few reviewing sessions and then seeing what we can focus on the next few weeks.
“Whereas, in Germany, I spent time with my parents and some friends, and we caught up about the wedding because I hadn’t seen them since then and it was some really positive wholesome week catching up friends and family and recharging the batteries.
“Having those three weeks off was perfect timing and it gave me a lot of time to reflect and allowed me to figure out how winning made me feel. It’s something I have been trying to achieve for eight years. I’m excited to play this week, it’s almost lifted a weight off my shoulders and I can play a bit more freely.”
Following her win, Fünfstück has moved up to 13th in the LET Order of Merit and now has her eyes on climbing into the top 10.
She was also shortlisted for the LET’s August Player of the Month award alongside Sweden’s Meja Örtengren, England’s Alice Hewson and Germany’s Leonie Harm.
Having taken home the winner’s portion of the US $1.5 million after London, the German star only had one thing she wanted to buy – a stainless steel pan.
She continued: “My German upbringing is that you have to be financially healthy and you can’t just spend everything now. You’ve got to save it for the rainy days and having had an injury where I have been out for a year, those rainy days came in useful.
“I’m not used to spending big, it’s more comforting now and going into next year. I was given some stick by friends, but I just wanted a really nice stainless steel pan that you have for the rest of your life, and I thought perfect I’ll do that. I love my pan.
“My expectations of where I want to be on the LET have always been quite high. I have always said I don’t want to be out there to just make cuts, I want to compete and be up there every week. That’s the fun bit and where you get your adrenaline kick.
“Over the past few years, I haven’t been where I wanted to be, so this year was a massive step in the right direction. I’ve always got top 10 in the Order of Merit in my head and that’s more achievable and a bit more in reach now. It feels nice to go into an event as a winner.”
Fünfstück is a team captain this week after jumping from 285 to 167 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and she picked her wife Rosie Davies of England to be in her team.
She added: “It was quite obvious that it was going to end up happening, but I did ask her permission first! I know she’s got a lot of birdies in her, and I said I’d only pick her if she was comfortable with it. It should be a fun week together.”
Team Fünfstück will tee it up in round one at 9.59 am (local time) from the 10th tee on Friday at Golfcrest Country Club.
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