NOCERA CRUISES TO VICTORY IN HOLLAND

Nocera en route to her win

“I guess this has shown me that I can win if I’m leading from the first round so its one more experience,” said Nocera, a three-time winner in 2006, when she captured the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, the BMW Ladies Italian Open and the Catalonia Ladies Masters.

“I was getting a little bit frustrated because I was playing well but I couldn’t score well. This is a good time to win, but I guess it is always a good time to win!” she said.

Nocera held a two stroke lead over Simpson going into the final round and played a steady front nine. She dropped a shot at the par-three third hole but her putter warmed up from the par-four seventh hole, where she slotted a 20 foot birdie putt. She then birdied the short par-three eighth and reached the turn in one-under 35.

On the back nine, she birdied the 12th and 14th before carding an eagle three at the 15th hole, which took her to 15-under with a five stroke lead with three holes to play. At that point, she was feeling confident that she had the title within her grasp.

“When I made the putt on the par-five for eagle I guess that was it,” she added. “I started to smile which was a sign and I just tried to play my best for the rest of the round.”