- Team Du Toit victorious with a score of 29-under-par
- Germany’s Laura Fünfstück leads by three in the Individual competition
Team Du Toit secured a one-stroke victory winning with a total of 29-under-par at the PIF London Championship held at Centurion Club.
The quartet of Danielle Du Toit, Sarah Kemp, Marta Sanz Barrio, and Megan Dennis began the day in a share of 11th place on 13-under-par.
They began the day on the 10th tee, and it didn’t take long for some putts to drop as they made the turn in -10 for the day, thanks to eagles from Du Toit and Sanz Barrio.
On their back nine, it was a steadier pace, but they remained in contention, and Du Toit and Dennis rolled in putts at the last to climb to the top of the leaderboard and seal victory.
“It has been such an up-and-down season, I played well on the Sunshine Ladies Tour coming over to the LET has been rough,” said Captain Du Toit. “To get this win, I’m still speechless. I’m going to have to be pinching myself for a while.
It was a remarkable turnaround for South Africa’s Du Toit, who had teed it up on the LET Access Series earlier this week and then withdrew to fly to London to be first reserve.
Following Charley Hull’s withdrawal due to injury, Du Toit was drafted into the competition and ended up captaining the quartet to victory.
Du Toit added: “I can’t even describe it. I had played one round on LETAS, and I had to withdraw. At that point, I was first reserve. Then I got on a plane and when I landed, I was in. I just showed up, played the course blind. I have no words.”
It was a first PIF Global Series Team title for all players in the team and extra special for Australia’s Kemp, who broke her leg on 10 August last year.
“I didn’t even know we had won until the end,” said Kemp. “I could see cameras on our last hole and thought we must be doing okay. I had no idea and then Megan and Danielle made birdie on the last and started fist-pumping.
“I think we gelled together really well, there were some eagles and some of us made bogeys, but it was perfect timing between all of us. I had so much fun. It’s my first Team event – so cool!”
Sanz Barrio commented: “I had no idea we were about to win anything; I was as amazed as Sarah was. The team was amazing; we pitched in on every hole. That was the recipe for success.”
“It feels so special, it’s so nice to do it at home and with a great group of people. We had a lot of fun over the last two days, so I’m very proud of everyone,” said Dennis, who hails from Bedfordshire.
It was a tightly congested leaderboard with Team Hall, Team Tamburlini and Team Nadaud all in T2 on 28-under-par; Team Alexander finished in outright fifth on 27-under with Team Delacour one shot further back.
In the Individual competition, Germany’s Laura Fünfstück fired a round of 70 (-3) on day two to hold a three-shot lead heading into the final day.
The German, who was part of Team Nadaud, started with a birdie at the first before rolling in three birdies in four holes on the sixth, eighth and ninth.
A dropped shot on 15 was followed by an excellent par-save on 16 before another dropped shot on 17, but she finished in style with a birdie at the last to reach nine-under-par.
“I’m very pleased with that,” said Fünfstück. “At the moment, I’m slightly gutted that the team just missed out. We didn’t see the scores and they snuck in a couple of birdies at the end. In general, I’m really happy. I had a lovely day with the girls.
“We have worked on a lot of things and tried to make changes. Our coach was here for three days leading up to this event. We had a long chat after the AIG Women’s Open last week; there was a lot of things going in the right direction, being able to contend for two days, but then it fell away over the weekend. We’re trying to figure out the key elements long term of what we’re trying to do and that is getting a bit clearer.
“I learned a lot from leading in 2019, Carlota [Ciganda] is a great player, and it will be great to play with her. I’m sure we will have some crowds out tomorrow. I’m excited to be in that position again, it’s been a while and it’s always fun to be contending.”
Four players are in a share of second place with Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Belgium’s Manon De Roey, France’s Perrine Delacour and South Africa’s Casandra Alexander all on six-under-par.
Three-time LET winner De Roey went low with a 67 (-6) on day two rolling in seven birdies and one bogey to move up the leaderboard.
“I do like this course a lot, I’ve played pretty well in the past,” said De Roey. “There’s a lot of par-5s that I can take advantage of; I did that a little bit today.
“I had one three-putt on the par-three, but I forgot about that pretty fast. It was solid overall, the course is in good shape and the greens are rolling really nicely, so I’m excited for tomorrow.”
It was an excellent day for Delacour as she went bogey-free with four birdies and one eagle on her scorecard for her round of six-under.
“I was in a good spot mentally and it’s always good to play a team event, especially sharing that with a good friend of mine Kim Metraux,” said Delacour. “That was definitely helping me a lot to be relaxed and when I missed a shot, I knew there was cover from there which relieved the pressure.”
England’s Cara Gainer and Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini are in a tie for sixth place on five-under-par with five players one shot further back in T8.
The cut fell at +3 with 65 players making it through to the final day of action at Centurion Club. Round three will begin at 8.30 am (local time) with the leaders teeing off at 12.57 pm.
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #PIFLondonChampionship.
