- Team Napoleaova fired a sensational second round to win the Team competition on -31
- Jin Young Ko and Xiyu Lin share the lead on 11-under-par in the Individual competition
Team Napoleaova triumphed at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Hong Kong as they recorded a final round of 21-under-par to clinch a one-stroke victory.
After starting the day six shots behind leaders Team Van Dam, Kristyna Napoleaova, Laura Fuenfstueck, Magdalena Simmermacher and amateur John Hyun had an excellent day on the golf course.
The quartet got off to a hot start and were -3 after one hole thanks to Simmermacher’s birdie and Hyun’s birdie-net-eagle.
Team Napoleaova gained momentum making the turn in 11-under and they continued their form on the back nine to be -10 in their final nine holes and post a team total of 31-under-par which was enough to win by one stroke.
Captain Napoleaova said: “It was a super vibe for the day. On the first tee, Maggie did her thing. I don’t know what she did, but it immediately stopped raining, whatever mojo from Argentina, it worked.
“For the rest of the round, we really enjoyed and all of us played really good. We just pulled it off, it was such a lovely golf course and all things just worked the way they were supposed to.”
It was a first LET title for Fuenfstueck, who has been on a journey back from injury and has seen a recent upturn in form.
The German player explained: “I’m super pleased, when I saw the team at the Draft I thought all of us could make quite a lot of birdies and then we got John added to the team and he made a lot of birdies as well.
“I thought it was going to be a fun time and really relaxed out there and that’s exactly how it was. We were able to capitalise on it and it was a lot of fun today.”
While, it was also the first trophy for Simmermacher as a professional and she was delighted to win a Team event.
The Argentinian commented: “It was great, I’m really excited for the team and we very much enjoyed the week. It’s great to be under Kristyna’s team, when I saw the team, I thought we were going to do good and it’s great that we actually won. I’m really happy.”
Amateur Hyun added: “It was a privilege to play with the three of them, I had a lot of nerves and they helped me a lot.”
Team Cheenglab finished in second place on 30-under-par at Hong Kong Golf Club after the quartet of Trichat Cheenglab, Christine Wolf, Jana Melichova and amateur Arianna Lau also produced a second round of -21.
Rookie Cheenglab said: “I’m very happy to have Christine and Jana in the Team. We all made eagles today, which put us very close and I’m very proud of the team today and we very much enjoyed it.”
Team Iturrioz finished in third place on 29-under-par with Team Pettersson two shots further back in fourth and five teams ended the week in a tie for fifth place on 25-under-par.
In the Individual competition, two players are tied at the summit of the leaderboard after 36 holes in Hong Kong.
Korea’s Jin Young Ko and China’s Xiyu Lin both sit on 11-under-par having fired rounds of 70 (-3) and 66 (-7) respectively, today.
World number three Ko led after the first round and had a solid day on the golf course carding a round of three-under which included five birdies and two bogeys.
“The round was very windy, it was hard to focus with the wind out there,” said the two-time Major champion. “I played really well today, I made some good putts.
“I’m very happy to finish with three-under. I try to think about nothing on the golf course and just hit some balls and talk with my partners.”
Chinese star Lin had an excellent second day to tie for the lead rolling in birdies on holes two, three and four before dropping her only shot of the day on the fifth.
The 27-year-old then made another three birdies on the trot on 10, 11 and 12 before adding two more on 14 and 16 for her round of 66.
“My driver was a little bit better, I got off to a pretty hot start but then me and the whole team was a little bit slower afterward,” said Lin.
“When we made the turn, we said let’s get it going and we all had a really good back nine, so I’m happy. I haven’t played alongside Hannah Burke in a long time, so I had lots of fun in these two rounds.
“I will just try to play another good round again. Being in contention along with another LPGA player is a good thing, I’m familiar with that and she’s a good player. Anne Van Dam and anyone could shoot a low one here, I’m glad I have lots of support and I will try to turn this into the energy for myself.”
Dutch star Anne Van Dam sits in third place just one shot back on 10-under-par after she produced a round of 69 (-4) on day two.
“My mindset today was really good, obviously with the weather we didn’t quite know what was going to happen so I was prepared for everything and just taking it one shot at a time,” said the five-time LET winner.
“I just really committed to the shots I wanted to hit, I played pretty aggressively because we wanted to win with the team. We got close, but not to be this time. Overall, I’m pleased with today.”
Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz share fourth place on nine-under-par with Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson and Thailand’s Cheenglab in a tie for sixth place on seven-under.
World number one Lilia Vu is in a share of eighth place on four-under-par alongside Germany’s Leonie Harm and Hong Kong’s own Tiffany Chan.
The cut fell at +3 with 63 players making it through to the final day of action which will begin at 8.00 am (local time) with the leaders teeing off at 9.50 am (local time).
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