After another exciting week, the 2021 Ladies European Tour (LET) season rolls on and the next stop for the Tour is in Finland.
Aura Golf plays host to the Gant Ladies Open, which is the eighth event on the 2021 calendar. Here are three things to look out for…
Home favourites ready to shine
A whole host of Finnish names will be teeing it up this week as the LET returns to Finland including Sanna Nuutinen, who is in second place on the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol and in the Solheim Cup standings. The 30-year-old has had a phenomenal season to date finishing in second at the Big Green Egg Open, plus tied for third at the Jabra Ladies Open and in the Aramco Team Series – London Team event last week.
Other Finnish stars in the field are Ursula Wikstrom, who finished T2 at the 2021 Ladies Italian Open, and last season’s LETAS Order of Merit winner Tiia Koivisto. Karina Kukkonen finished T6 at the ATS – London Team event will also tee it up this week as will Noora Komulainen, who gave birth to her daughter in May.
Skarpnord back in the winner’s circle
Marianne Skarpnord had an excellent week at the Aramco Team Series – London when her team finished second in the team event, and she won the individual competition. The Norwegian produced rounds of 73-65-68 to finish tied at the top of the leaderboard on 13-under-par with Atthaya Thitikul. The duo headed back down the 18th and on the second play off hole, Skarpnord rolled in her birdie putt to clinch her fifth LET title.
Off the back of such a high and winning her first LET title in two years Skarpnord heads to a venue where she had success previously. In 2007, the Norwegian won the Felix Finnish Ladies Open at Aura Golf beating Wendy Berger in a playoff. With a confidence boost, Skarpnord will be hoping to put in another good performance.
Race to Costa del Sol leader Thitikul tees it up
Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul won her third LET title a few weeks ago at the 2021 Tipsport Czech Ladies Open and came close to adding another victory last week in London. The 18-year-old has had a fantastic start to her 2021 season with T6 at the Jabra Ladies Open and fourth at the Big Green Egg, on top of her win and runner-up finish.
Thanks to her consistency, Thitikul leapt to the top of the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol rankings. The teenage sensation has 1124.17 points and she has a lead of 159.75 points over Finland’s Nuutinen. With a purple patch of form, Thitikul will be looking to continue her run of recent results at Aura Golf this week.
