- England’s Liz Young wins first LET title with one-shot victory in Switzerland
- Sweden’s Linn Grant overtakes Maja Stark to lead 2022 Race to Costa del Sol
England’s Liz Young fired a final round of 69 (-3) at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open to secure her first victory on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
The second round was completed early on Saturday morning with the Englishwoman holding a one-shot lead heading into the final round.
Despite a bogey on the first, Young bounced back with birdies on the third and seventh holes to put her firmly in contention before she got a stroke of luck on the 10th to save par.
Two further birdies on 11 and 14 gave the 39-year-old a two-shot lead with four holes to play and a par on the last was enough for her to seal victory.
“I can’t believe it right now! I’ve been out here a while and haven’t had the win yet, so to do it here in Switzerland is just fantastic,” she said.
“On the 10th, I hit a good drive off the tee, and it just ran through the fairway into the rough so I couldn’t lift, clean and place and there was a big chunk of mud on the ball. I thought I had got to go for it, it was only a hybrid in my hand and unfortunately the mud curved it millimetres from out of bounds, so I salvaged the par from that and then hit a nice shot on 11 to get the birdie there instead.
“I tried to keep in the moment, I didn’t look at scoreboards and I asked Christine [Wolf] – my friend – on 18 what the situation was because I wanted to keep in the moment and play every shot as best as I can, and we would see what happen.”
In her 14th season on Tour, Young has had a solid 2022 with two top-10s and two further top-15 finishes, and she knew her game was trending in the right direction.
“I did feel it coming, I knew my game was good,” she continued. “In Sotogrande I didn’t play well, and I was burnt out, I took two weeks off which I needed and got my game back in shape. I knew my game was coming together and I was getting better and better – that’s why I’m still out here!
“I said I’d keep playing as long as I enjoy it and as long as I keep getting better – 14 years later we’re here. I hope my daughter is watching. I have been out here a while and never really been close to the win, but I’ve had some good results in strong field events. To finally get across the line is… yeah.”
Four-time LET winner Linn Grant finished the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open at Golfpark Holzhäusern in second place after a final round of 69 (-3).
The Swedish star started strong with birdies on three and five but then dropped shots on eight and 14 to put her back to level-par for the day.
However, the 23-year-old rallied towards the end of her round with three consecutive birdies on 15, 16 and 17 but was unable to find another on the last and finished with a total of 11-under-par.
“I feel like I was so grumpy the whole day, I did what I was supposed to do,” Grant said. “I didn’t quite get close to the pins and whenever I had a short putt it was just past and close to the hole.
“The last couple of holes, I was giving back to myself. I’m happy for Liz and I’m okay with not making a birdie on the last hole. I think that going out and shooting seven-under with no preparation, I went out with a very chilled feeling, and I think I tried too hard the second day and I tried too hard today.”
After her second-place finish, Grant now overtakes compatriot Maja Stark in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol and sits at the top of the rankings. She added: “We’ll see if Maja manages to come back, or I’ll see her at the LET finale!”
England’s Rosie Davies ended the tournament on 10-under-par in third place – her best-ever result on the LET – after a final round of 70.
“I’m really proud of myself,” said the Englishwoman. “I woke up this morning and I felt so sick, I have never been in a lead group of an LET event before. I couldn’t eat any breakfast, but I calmed down on about the third hole.
“I dropped a few too many shots to put the pressure I needed to on Liz. I made birdies on 14 and 15, I thought I was going to chase it to the end, and I knew Linn was going to birdie somewhere. I’m really pleased with the week.
“Just seeing where the women’s game is with all these fans this week has been unbelievable. The adrenaline rush that you get and the buzz – I just want to do it every week, so I better get practising!”
Three players finished in a share of fourth place with Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, Germany’s Alexandra Försterling and Belgium’s Manon De Roey all on nine-under-par.
One shot further back, England’s Annabel Dimmock recorded her best result of the season with T7 alongside India’s Amandeep Drall and France’s Charlotte Liautier, while Austria’s Emma Spitz rounded out the top 10 on seven-under-par.
In the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Grant tops the standings having accumulated 3,353.91 points from the 15 events she had played.
Stark sits second with fellow Swede Johanna Gustavsson in third, but De Roey closed the gap in fourth place and now has 1,711.71 points.
Young has jumped from 35th up 12th in the rankings and has 1,062.16 points after her victory in Switzerland, with Davies also climbing from 55th up to 32nd place.
