History is on the line for Alice Hewson at this week’s VP Bank Swiss Ladies as the Englishwoman goes in pursuit of an unprecedented three-peat of victories in the competition.
The 28-year-old earn her second Ladies European Tour (LET) win at this event in 2024 defeating India’s Tvesa Malik in a playoff before defending her title in style with a dominant five-shot victory last time out.
“It feels great to be back,” Hewson said ahead of the tournament’s seventh edition in a row at Golfpark Holzhäusern. “It always feels great to be back. Everyone here, the members, the staff, they’re all so welcoming and it’s fantastic. The course is in great condition too considering the [hot] weather that they’ve had the last few weeks. It’s great to be back.
“The two wins were definitely very different. The first year I won, Tvesa Malik was actually playing behind me, so I was trying to set the score before I had to watch her come in as she matched my birdie on the last. Then I had to defeat her in a playoff. That was interesting.
“Then last year, I actually didn’t know what the scoreline was. I remember saying to my caddie, ‘don’t tell me, only tell me if we need to birdie 18.’ We got to the 18th, I hit a lovely drive and he turned around said, ‘we don’t need birdie to win, but we’re not winning this with a par!’ I then nearly slam-dunked it again [after doing the same on the 17th in 2024] which would have been impressive. I rolled in the birdie putt to top it off so obviously very good memories.”
Swedish legend Annika Sörenstam was the last player to three-peat on the LET when she won the HP Open (later renamed the Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika) in 2004, 2005 and 2006 on home soil.
On replicating the feat, Hewson said: “It would be unbelievable. I’ve met Annika several times, she’s a fantastic human being and has done so much for the sport so to be said in the same sentence as her would be pretty cool.
“It’s funny, I feel like there’s actually less pressure this week. Last year was really special being able to defend. It was absolutely fantastic. But no one expects you to defend it twice. So I’m just going to go out there this week and have some fun. I’ll give it the best shot I can and see where that takes me come Saturday. But as I said, for me, there’s no pressure this week.”
As for form, Hewson has enjoyed a fine month on home turf making the cut at the co-sanctioned ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open and AIG Women’s Open before finishing T6 at last week’s PIF London Championship. The Englishwoman now sits 25th on the LET Order of Merit.
“The past three weeks have been really positive,” Hewson said. “Three cuts made and three good results. After the start of my year, I’m very happy they came when they did. I’ve been resilient this year through the rough times on the course. I think it brings me a lot of positives coming into this week.
“I think it really feels like home here. It feels similar to the courses I grew up playing [in England]. It’s not just about how far you hit it, you really have to place the ball around the golf course. You have to give yourselves opportunities.”
Hewson gets her hat-trick hunt underway at 13:28 local time on Thursday playing alongside Singapore’s Shannon Tan and Austria’s Emma Spitz. Can she do the unprecedented in Switzerland, another wooden cow would also be coming home with the 28-year-old with the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open offering one of the most unique trophies in all of golf.
On her pair of trophies, Hewson said: “I keep both the cows on our windowsill at home. I still live with my parents and they’re in the living room next to the TV. When I eventually move out I can take one and they can keep one. I haven’t named them yet though. I’ll have to come up with something!”
Watch the VP Bank Swiss Ladiess Open live and can keep up to date with the tournament on our socials: @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #SwissLadiesOpen.
