Defending champion Lily May Humphreys is hoping her fond memories of Johannesburg can kickstart her season this week as she returns to the site of her sole Ladies European Tour (LET) victory.
The Englishwoman enjoyed a dream Saturday last time out as she overcame a six-shot deficit in the final round at Modderfontein Golf Club to win the Joburg Ladies Open.
Now back in South Africa for the first time since her dramatic comeback victory, an excited Humphreys is eager to use those happy memories to spark a return to form.
“It feels weird but it’s good to be back,” she says a year on from winning the title. “I’ve not been to South Africa since [the win] and I’m enjoying it a lot so far.
“I’m excited to get the week going. I’ve never really gone back to defend a title before. As an amateur you win and you move on. So it’s a bit different and a different type of pressure. I sort of expect to play well even though I haven’t had the best start to the season. I’m hoping that the good memories and remembering all the good shots brings a little bit of something back.”
Humphreys trailed Sweden’s Moa Folke by six shots heading into the final round in 2023, but a fantastic 67 (-6) on Saturday saw her leapfrog several LET stars to secure a two-shot victory.
“Last year was incredible,” she remembers. “I had such a good week and had a lot of fun. It was a rollercoaster of an end to the week. A lot of things fell into place in the last hour!
“I remember I was playing with Nicole [Garcia] and we were looking at the leaderboard after nine holes thinking, ‘I’m not going to win… we’re too far back.’ But then 15 rolls around, I look at the leaderboard and I’m in a three-way tie. I was just trying to shoot as low a number as I could to finish top five, top three. I wasn’t expecting a win that day!”
The victory propelled the then 20-year-old into the LET winner’s category ensuring her full status after losing her card at the end of 2022.
As for this season, Humphreys returns to Joburg having missed three cuts in 2024 with her best finish coming three weeks ago at the Women’s NSW Open in Australia where she placed T34.
But following her trip Down Under, Humphreys has been living her best life in South Africa, enjoying the food on offer while visiting Kruger National Park with fellow LET players Kristyna Napoleaova, Madelene Stavnar, Maggie Simmermacher and Dorthea Forbrigd.
“It [the safari] was so good,” Humphreys said. “We were so lucky to be able to see the big five [animals]. Especially the lion. We saw one male lion walking our way. It was such a good day and none of us had really gone on a safari before so it was so much fun.
“I do really like South Africa. The weather is nice, there’s good food and it’s cheap! Good steak and good sushi. I really love it. There’s a really nice atmosphere here and I like it a lot.”
Humphreys gets her Joburg Ladies Open title defence underway on Thursday at 07:33 local time playing alongside fellow LET winners Alice Hewson and Ana Pelaez Trivino. The full draw can be found here.
“I’m relatively confident,” she continued. “I’m just hoping I can play solid again. I need to be solid off the tee. My short game has been pretty good this season but I need to sharpen up the long game.
“You need to keep a level head around here and be patient. There’s a lot of score-able holes but it’s narrow in places so you can quite easily drop a lot of shots. But I’m quite confident.”
Follow all the action on on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame | #JoburgLadiesOpen.
