- Young claims one-shot victory over Belgium’s Manon De Roey in Delhi
- Englishwoman jumps to 12th in Order of Merit after securing second LET title
Liz Young can now call herself a two-time Ladies European Tour (LET) winner after she pipped close friend Manon De Roey to the Hero Women’s Indian Open title.
Trailing De Roey and compatriot Alice Hewson by one shot heading into Sunday, Young carded an even-par round of 72 at DLF Golf & Country Club to clinch a one-shot victory and hoist the famous trophy.
“I’m in shock,” the Englishwoman said. “Disbelief. It’s my second win, but it’s still as important as any other win. They don’t happen very often as a professional golfer.
“It’s never easy. Manon is a great friend of mine and we were battling all day. It’s never easy to beat a friend but she had one [a victory] earlier this year so it’s my turn!”
Still a shot behind De Roey after 14 holes of action, the turning point came at the par-5 15th when Young’s patience paid off and she carded an excellent birdie.
Two holes later and the treacherous 17th proved decisive again as De Roey dropped a shot to give Young the lead heading down the last.
Then, drama. Young’s third shot from the rough finding the water as a playoff looked to be on the cards in Delhi. But after De Roey was unable to get up and down from short of the green, Young dialled in a fantastic wedge shot from the drop zone to salvage a bogey and win the tournament.
She continued: “I know I had a good round yesterday and I was feeling good about today, but I actually didn’t hit it great all day. Putting was the key. Me and my caddie were reading the greens great all day.
“I hit a bad layup for my second shot [on 18] and hit it in the rough. I had 135 yards and hit a 9-iron. I put a really good swing on it but literally by a couple of inches it hit the woodwork [and went in the water].
“Luckily I got go back to a yardage I was comfortable on which was a 100 yards. I hit a nice easy 50 degree and hit it close. I knew I just needed to make the putt!”
With the victory, Young adds a second LET title to her resume having won the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open in 2022 – much to the delight of her daughter Isabelle.
The 42-year-old said: “It was my birthday this week and it’s my daughter’s birthday next week. So it’s a good birthday celebration. She did want another animal to match the cow [from Switzerland] on the mantlepiece, so I don’t know if that’s going to happen! But it’s another trophy so we can get rid of the horse which was a replacement on there.”
In a tie for second on one-under par finished De Roey, Singapore’s Shannon Tan, New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori and France’s Agathe Sauzon.
Olympian Perrine Delacour carded the round of the day 67 (-5) to finish T6 alongside Morocco’s Maha Haddioui and England’s Hannah Burke. A difficult day for co-overnight leader Hewson saw her finish T11 on four-over par.
In the LET Order of Merit, Young moves up into 12th position after collecting 500 points for the win.
De Roey meanwhile keeps the standings alive with two events remaining as she closes the gap on Chiara Tamburlini to 773.23 points. The Belgian still needs, at the very least, one win and one runner-up finish from the remaining two events to topple her Swiss rival.
Next up for the stars of the LET is the final Aramco Team Series presented by PIF event of the season in Riyadh. Follow all the action @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame
