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Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson will be among the favourites when she makes her first appearance in the UniCredit Ladies German Open presented by Audi at Golfpark Gut Häusern this week.
One of the most successful ever players on the LET, Sophie is third on the all time career money list only behind Laura Davies and Annika Sorenstam, she has won 26 career titles, including 16 on the LET and has won the order of merit four times.
She made a considerable contribution as a member of the victorious European team at The 2011 Solheim Cup in Ireland when she went undefeated scoring four points out of four.
At 49th in the world, she is the second highest ranked player in the tournament field behind Sandra Gal in Germany and will have a strong chance of earning the Audi A5 Convertible and €52,500 first prize.
“I wouldn’t enter a tournament if I didn’t feel I could win it and that would certainly give my season a great boost,” said Gustafson on her first visit to Munich.
“It’s a nice course and a very good set up but it all depends on what game shows up tomorrow morning and I think I have a fairly good chance.”
This is her first stop in Europe this season after appearances in Australia, where she tied for 11th at the Gold Coast RACV Ladies Masters, but missed the cut at the ISPS Handa Australian Open and she explained that she has been working on her putting over the last month.
“I have a new putting coach and I have been starting to use an aim point,” she said. “My putting coach is called Matt Pakkala and I met him over in Hawaii when I was over for the tournament a month ago. It’s the putting that I most struggle with and he’s been helping me.”
Her best finish of the season on the LPGA in the USA came last week when she finished 17th at the Sybase Matchplay Championship, signalling that an improvement may be on the cards.
A victory in Germany would be particularly timely given that some of the major tournaments of the season are scheduled for the coming months.
