- The Czech star beats Cara Gainer in a playoff
- Napoleaova catapults from 153rd to 19th in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol
Kristyna Napoleaova rolled in her birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the 2023 Amundi German Masters at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See.
The Czech player began the day as co-leader alongside England’s Cara Gainer and the duo couldn’t be separated at the end of 72 holes as they were tied at the top of the leaderboard on 14-under-par.
They headed back down the 18th for the playoff and it was Napoleaova who rolled in her birdie putt to triumph and become the fourth first-time winner on the LET in 2023.
“It was definitely dramatic, but I don’t think it was just the last hole I think it was pretty much the whole day,” said Napoleaova.
“There was a lot of scrambling and I’m proud we managed to get where we are now and I couldn’t have done it without my great team and caddie. It has been a really good week so far and I hope on the way home we may celebrate it later.”
Napoleaova began her round with a par on the first before dropping shots on the second and third holes, however, she soon bounced back with birdies on holes five and eight.
It was another dropped shot on 10 before she rolled in an eagle putt on the 13th and a birdie on the 16th to put herself in pole position.
On the last, Napoleaova missed her par putt to win the tournament outright and she headed to the playoff where she came out on top to clinch her maiden LET title.
“I was struggling the whole week off the tee and with the irons as you could probably see today,” she explained. “But I think the putting was amazing the whole week. That was the main thing, even in the playoff, that got me there and to get the first win.”
Napoleaova was late to the game of golf starting in the summer of 2016 having been a former footballer for AC Sparta Praha when she was younger.
The newly-crowned LET winner has also had battles off the golf course recently being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis a few months ago and is amazed to have entered the winner’s circle on Tour.
She added: “I still can’t believe that not even seven years ago, I hadn’t held a golf club and now I’m on the Ladies European Tour and winning an event. It’s amazing and I can’t wait to do another one and especially next week being back home, so hopefully there’ll be a good crowd there.”
England’s Gainer ultimately finished in second after losing in the playoff, having produced a final round of 71 (-1) with three birdies and a double bogey on her scorecard.
Germany’s Sophie Hausmann fired the round of the day with an excellent bogey-free 64 (-8) to finish the tournament with a total of 11-under-par.
“It was fun, of course,” said Hausmann. “I played solid golf all week long and on this course we did see some low scoring and today was the day where I went low. I enjoyed it!
“You have a few friends coming out and you have the German cheering and it all comes together and you think let’s make one more and keep going. I had two girls especially who were following me for the last seven holes and they were really going. It was pretty cute and fun to watch, and I hope they will be out there one day.”
Hausmann finished in a tie for third place alongside India’s Diksha Dagar, who carded an even-par round on the final day.
England’s Alice Hewson ended the tournament in fifth place on 10-under-par after a fourth round of 69 (-3).
Spain’s Carmen Alonso, France’s Celine Herbin and Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson finished in a tie for sixth place on eight-under-par and one shot further back was Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta alongside French duo Agathe Sauzon and Nastasia Nadaud.
In the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, Ashok still leads the standings as she has done since the first event of the season but Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino is now only 3.47 points behind.
Sweden’s Linn Grant is third with Czechia’s Klara Davidson Spilkova fourth and Germany’s Chiara Noja in fifth place.
English duo Lily May Humphreys and Alice Hewson are in sixth and seventh with Sweden’s Lisa Petterson eighth and Dutch star Anne Van Dam ninth.
With her second-place finish, Gainer moves onto the top 10 and now has 598.71 points while winner Napoleaova has jumped from 153rd to 19th place.
The LET heads to Napoleaova’s homeland next week for the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open which takes place on June 23-25.
