Jana Melichova fired an excellent round of 67 (-5) to come from behind and secure an emotional victory at the 2024 Dutch Ladies Open.
The Czech star began the day six shots behind leader Kim Metraux of Switzerland, but the deficit had reduced to two strokes at the halfway mark.
Melichova continued to switch the momentum rolling in more birdies as Metraux went out of bounds on the 12, but despite a fightback from the Swiss star, it wasn’t enough.
The 26-year-old Czech made a birdie at the 16th to give her a one-shot lead which she held onto to secure her second LET title with a score of 11-under-par.
“I feel absolutely amazing, I don’t even know what to say! It was just perfect,” said Melichova, who won the 2022 Tipsport Czech Ladies Open as an amateur. “It means so much. Especially, I have been struggling so much this year.
“I have just not been making cuts, I have not had good results and been struggling overall mentally. This is a major thing and it’s going to give me some major confidence.
“I was a bit aggressive with my first putt on 18, it was all the adrenaline and everything. I hit it a little bit too hard and then left myself a metre downhill putt which is never nice.
“I felt the same thing I felt when I had a metre putt in 2022 when I won in Beroun. I had the same feeling where I knew I was going to make it. It’s such a weird feeling, but I just knew it.”
Melichova rolled in birdies on the first and fourth holes before dropping her only shot of the day on the sixth in the Netherlands.
The Prague native made further birdies on holes seven, 10, 13 and 16 to add a second LET victory but her first as a professional.
She continued: “I was still not very confident off the tee, so I was struggling with that a little bit, but as I said yesterday the other parts of the game kept me in the game and in contention, so that was great. I just set my mind to fight no matter what it takes, that’s how I got here!
“After nine holes, I looked at the leaderboard and saw it and thought let’s get it done. Starting this round I didn’t really believe I could win because Kim had so many shots, so I really thought she was going to win.
“I didn’t really think of that, I just wanted to play good, and have a good position at the end of the week. I just felt a huge wave of motivation after those nine holes, I think that’s where that birdie came from and more of those later on.”
After her victory, Melichova dedicated the win to her mother, who sadly died in 2022, as it would have been her 60th birthday on the first day of the tournament.
“When she passed away, I swore to myself that I was going to win a title for her, and I really wanted to do that for her,” she explained.
“Her birthday being this week, it just made it all so special and I think that’s what motivated the most this week. I was thinking about her the entire time really.
“I was getting really emotional those last six holes, I thought about my mum so much that it made me cry during the round. I really tried to keep it together. I had really good players with me in the group, so they were cheering me up as well.
“They were distracting me from all the stress and the pressure, so that was lovely. It was so amazing, I know a lot of people were cheering for Nikki because it was her home event and she was playing so well, but they were so nice cheering for me as well. It made it all so special.”
Switzerland’s Metraux, who led from the first day, had a final round of 74 (+4) which included four birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey to finish in outright second place on 10-under-par.
Thailand’s April Angurasaranee and England’s Liz Young ended the week in a tie for third place both on eight-under-par.
It was another solid round for Angurasaranee who carded a 69 (-3) with four birdies and one bogey to record her best result of 2024.
“It’s been a great week so far,” said the Thai player. “Even the first day, I putted really well. I putted very well yesterday and today was also pretty good. The putter is a keeper now, I love that putter.
“I really needed this week. I haven’t been playing well for the past I don’t know how many weeks. I needed this top three finish, I’m so happy that I did it. I’m finally playing great golf again; it feels really good to play the whole week!”
Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and France’s Perrine Delacour finished in a share of fifth place on seven-under-par.
Six players ended the tournament in a tie for seventh place with South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, Wales’ Chloe Williams, Czechia’s Sara Kouskova, Nikki Hofstede of the Netherlands and Singapore’s Shannon Tan all on six-under-par.
In the LET Order of Merit, Belgium’s Manon De Roey has moved up to second place in the rankings after finishing in T13.
Melichova claimed 500 points for her win and has catapulted up the rankings from 92nd to 18th place.
The LET now takes a two-week break before the stars of the Tour tee it up in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games which takes place at Le Golf National between 7-10 August.
Follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #DutchLadiesOpen.
