Round 4 - Meghan MacLaren wins first LET title in Australia

March 04, 2018

England’s Meghan MacLaren held her overnight lead to win the Women’s New South Wales Open and claim her first Ladies European Tour title in Australia.

MacLaren, 23, from Northamptonshire, carded a level par final round in hot and humid conditions to finish on 10-under-par at Coffs Harbour Golf Club.

LET rookies Casey Danielson from the United States and Marita Engzelius from Norway ended two back alongside Silvia Bañon from Spain.

MacLaren’s first Ladies European Tour win comes in her 11th event, but she had previously won two titles on the LET Access Series as well as the circuit’s order of merit in 2017.

The second-year professional looked on course for the win after making two birdies in her first three holes to build a four-stroke advantage. Although she bogeyed the seventh, she made another gain at the ninth, to hold four-shot lead through the turn.

Danielson had four birdies on the front nine and added another at the 12th, but there were no further gains and it wasn’t enough to beat MacLaren, who three-putted the 13th and dropped another shot after missing the 17th green.

Engzelius, a former Symetra Tour player competing in only her second LET event, also had a level par round featuring a bogey at the seventh and a birdie at the 11th and second-year professional Bañon had a steady round of three-under, but two strokes was the closest they came all day.

“It feels incredible. I didn’t think those words would be coming out of my mouth so soon!” said MacLaren, who thanked her dad, Staysure Tour CEO David MacLaren, for carrying the bag over the weekend.

“All parts of my game were good. To go out there today and to still feel in control of my ball striking and all of that, it gave me a little bit of margin for error towards the end.

“I played well in the few events that I played last year, but you’ve got to be patient. It can take some players years before they get over the line. To do it now gives me a lot of confidence.

“I struggled a little bit out here in Australia and had a few ups and downs with my game, but you only have to look at the pictures back home in England to know that that’s not the place to be. The course set-up every single week over the last few weeks has been fantastic. Both the LET and the ALPG have done a fantastic job.”

Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth tied for fifth with Germany’s Olivia Cowan, Lydia Hall of Wales and Australian Sarah Kemp on seven-under, with fellow Australian Rebecca Artis, Swede Daniela Holmqvist and Austrian Sarah Schober a shot back.

MacLaren joins a select list of Women’s New South Wales Open champions, including former world number ones Dame Laura Davies (2008) and Lydia Ko (2012), European Solheim Cup star Caroline Hedwall (2011 and 2013) and 2015 champion Holly Clyburn, in the fourth and final Australian event co-sanctioned by the LET and the ALPG in 2018.

The Ladies European Tour now heads to South Africa for the Investec South African Women’s Open in Cape Town.

More scores & prize money.

Round 3 - Meghan MacLaren fires PB 65 to take NSW lead

March 03, 2018

England’s Meghan MacLaren fired her best score on the Ladies European Tour – a six-under-par 65 – to move to 10-under-par and take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Women’s New South Wales Open in Australia.

The 23-year-old from Rushton in Northamptonshire carded eight birdies and two bogeys in fine conditions on day three at Coffs Harbour Golf Club.

She is two ahead of Norwegian rookie Marita Engzelius, with Australian Rebecca Artis, Thailand’s Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras and Silvia Bañon three strokes further back in tied third.

“I’m delighted. I played well yesterday and the day before in wind, but to convert it into a score that really sets the mark for tomorrow feels great,” said the 2017 LET Access Series Order of Merit winner, who had her dad, Staysure Tour CEO David MacLaren on caddie duties.

“He was helpful in that he didn’t say anything the whole way around! No, it was great to have him there, just to keep me calm and make sure I didn’t get ahead of myself. He deserves a lie down,” she smiled. “He kept me talking about stuff that wasn’t related to my round, which was good, because I could have been a bit edgy otherwise.”

The second-year professional has won twice on the LET Access Series, once as an amateur in 2016 and at the 2017 Azores Ladies Open in her rookie season. She feels that those experiences will stand her in good stead as she targets her first win on the Ladies European Tour.

“Winning on the LET Access Series makes me feel a lot more confident going into tomorrow. Everybody gets nervous at the top of the leader board and sometimes it’s better coming from behind. Knowing that I’ve got over the line before and have won in college as well, I know what it takes – and I know I’m good enough to do it,” she said.

MacLaren started the third round two strokes from the lead and bogeyed the first hole but fired five birdies over the next seven holes for an outward total of 31, to take a one-stroke lead into the back nine. She birdied the par-3 12th and flirted with the trees on the left side of the 13th fairway before making a solid putt for bogey, dropping into a share of the lead. She then moved two strokes ahead of Engzelius with a pair of birdies on 16 and 17.

“It had a bit of everything and some of the bogeys felt like the best parts of the round, so I’m happy. I hit some great iron shots and felt in control of the ball all day. This is the best I’ve felt with my game for quite a while and I’m putting nicely so I don’t want to get distracted by the noise outside and just want to focus on what I’m doing,” she said.

Her closest challenger, Engzelius, may be an LET rookie by name, but she has plenty of experience. She played on the LPGA in 2013 and following that played for four years on the Symetra Tour, where she won the 2014 Symetra Tour Championship, which she won in a play-off.

After signing for a three-under 68, she said: “I felt that I was able to put in a good score, but I was struggling a bit off the tee. I only hit four fairways, but I putted well and overall, I’m happy. I just kept it simple and if I got in trouble I didn’t try to do anything spectacular. I’m going to work on my driver and hopefully have a good round tomorrow.”

The other challengers will include Austrian Sarah Schober, whose 65 equalled the low round of the day, Australians Sarah Kemp and Jihye Park, Lydia Hall from Wales, Germany’s Olivia Cowan and Camilla Lennarth from Sweden, who all start the last day six strokes back.

Due to the threat of afternoon thunderstorms, there will be earlier tee times for the final round and the leading three-ball of MacLaren, Engzelius and Artis will start at 8.54am local time.

Round 2 - Justine Dreher & Jihye Park share halfway lead in Australia

March 02, 2018

New South Wales amateur Jihye Park and Justine Dreher of France moved into a share of the halfway lead on day two of the Women’s NSW Open in Australia.

Park, 17, from Sydney, shot a bogey free seven-under-par 64 while Dreher carded a 69 in benign conditions at Coffs Harbour Golf Club.

At six-under-par, the pair sit a stroke ahead of French rookie Manon Mollé, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras of Thailand and Norwegian LET rookie Marita Engzelius (below).

England’s Meghan MacLaren, Lydia Hall of Wales, Olivia Cowan of Germany and Camilla Lennarth of Sweden share sixth place on four-under-par.

Dreher started her round with an eagle on the driveable par-4 first hole, where she made a putt from five feet, but there were also four birdies and four bogeys on her card.

The 25-year-old from Paris said afterwards: “I’m really happy with my game and the position that I’m in.

“This is my fifth week on tour and together with the other French players, we’ve been saying, if there is anywhere that you’d like to be away for, for five weeks, other than at home, the best place is Australia. We are really having a lot of fun. There are some great things to do around here and the weather has been great and it’s snowing at home, so it’s been really nice to spend some time here.”

Dreher will be looking to improve on her career best finish of fifth, recorded in her first event as a professional, in the 2016 New Zealand Open, where she played in the last group with the winner, Lydia Ko.

She will play with another Korean-born Antipodean teenager in the third round of the Women’s NSW Open. Park made seven birdies and posted a new course record on Friday but was still disappointed that she had missed a six-footer on 17, which would have given her a 63.

“I’ve shot a bunch of course records,” said the home-schooled teenager, who moved to the Sydney suburb of St Clair from Korea with her parents 11 years ago. “That’s what I do!” she joked.

“I was playing really well today, and everything was going in the hole, it was just like a vacuum,” she added.

“The speed was really good, and the ball striking was good too, but there were some holes where I missed the green and managed to get up and down. My chipping was also good and I scrambled well.

“This is my fourth professional event after the NSW Open, the NZ Open and Bonville and I was pleased to make the cut last weekend. I’m getting used to playing in pro events and today felt like a normal game. I think I was in the zone. I was just talking to myself, telling myself that I was going well and controlling my mind throughout the day.”

First round co-leader Mollé, who is playing in only her fourth event as a professional, made a wobbly start and dropped three strokes in her first three holes, after finding the greenside bunkers on the 11th and 12th holes. She fought back with four birdies, only to drop a shot on the ninth, where she missed the green.

The 23-year-old from Brittany said: “I made a really bad start and got plugged in a bunker on 11, but after that, I knew that I could make a lot of birdies. I stayed patient and made a birdie on the par-3 15th, then the 18th, and holes one and three. If I hadn’t bogeyed the last hole, I would have been satisfied. Coming here, I only wanted to make the cut, but now I would really like to get a top-10, if not a win.”

One shot back, fellow overnight co-leader Silvia Bañon from Spain carded a 73 and slipped back into a share of 10th position on three-under-par alongside Sweden’s Jenny Haglund and Australian trio Rebecca Artis, Sarah Kemp and Emily McLennan, a second-year member of the ALPG.

Round 1 - Mollé & Bañon fire course record 66s in NSW Open

March 01, 2018

French rookie Manon Mollé and Silvia Bañon from Spain fired course record five-under par 66s in the first round of the Women’s New South Wales Open on Thursday to share the lead at Coffs Harbour Golf Club.

Mollé carded a bogey and six birdies in hot and sunny weather to set the target before Bañon fired five birdies in overcast and blustery conditions later in the afternoon.

Both young Europeans said that the prospect of playing in next year’s Solheim Cup in Scotland is providing major motivation.

Mollé was a member of Europe’s 2010 Junior Ryder Cup team that played against a United States side including Jordan Speith and Justin Thomas at Gleneagles and she would love to return to compete for Europe as a professional.

“It would mean so much to me,” said the 23-year-old, who was born in France, raised in Reunion Island and lives in Morocco. “As an amateur, I was a good player, but not awesome. Since Lalla Aicha Tour School I have been working extremely hard.”

Bañon, 25, from Alicante, is a second-year professional who spent most of her time on the Santander Golf Tour in Spain in 2017, winning the circuit’s order of merit. A fan of Severiano Ballesteros, she hopes to follow in his footsteps in representing Europe and has watched all his YouTube videos.

She said: “I’ve read all the books about Seve. He had a very strong mind for golf and I love how he played on the course. I also like watching Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm.”

Dreher also played in the more difficult afternoon conditions and reeled off seven birdies but dropped three shots over the 17th and 18th holes. She is enjoying the challenge of playing on a different Australian course each week and said: “I feel like you really learn to play well in the wind in Australia; we’ve had windy conditions at each of the courses and it helps to develop you as a player.

“Even though we’re only 11km from Bonville, you can’t even compare it, as the layout and the greens here at Coffs Harbour are completely different, with less grain. It’s obviously way flatter, so they are two completely different courses. Last week I had a bit of trouble on the greens, but I think this week’s course is great.”

Hot on her heels are Camilla Lennarth from Sweden, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras of Thailand and US-based Queenslander Emily McLennan on three-under-par. New South Welshwoman Sarah Kemp and Olivia Cowan from Germany are a stroke back on two-under-par.

There are seven further players tied for ninth on one-under-par and 15 sub-par rounds on the first day. The second round commences at 7am local time on Friday and the leaders, Bañon and Mollé, will start their rounds at 7.16am and 1.06pm respectively.

Scores

Preview

The Ladies European Tour has moved 11km down the Pacific Highway from Bonville Golf Resort to Coffs Harbour Golf Club this week to contest the Women’s New South Wales Open: a new event on the LET calendar.

After a two-year hiatus, the event has returned as a fully co-sanctioned tournament, with a field of 138 players from 33 countries all looking to hoist the trophy.

The tournament will count towards the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit and competitors will accrue valuable Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking points, which will ultimately contribute towards qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as well as offering an LET winner’s exemption until the end of 2019. This is the fifth major professional women’s golf tournament in as many weeks in Australia and marks the fourth co-sanctioned event between the LET and the ALPG in 2018.

There are several players looking to carry momentum into their second week in the city of Coffs Harbour, including local Rebecca Artis, Iceland’s Valdis Thora Jonsdottir, Sweden’s Daniela Holmqvist, US-rookie Casey Danielson and England’s Charlotte Thompson, who all finished in the top-10 at Bonville.

Thompson (above), who tied for ninth in last week’s Australian Ladies Classic, said: “I loved the course last week and this week I’m feeling good. The greens here aren’t as grainy, but they are running quite quick, so they are rolling well. It’s a little wet underfoot after the rain but it’s drying out, especially with the wind. It’s fiddly in places and you have to be careful where you hit it, but there are some great birdie opportunities.”

Her namesake Michele Thomson (above), who tied for 40th last week, agreed that Coffs Harbour Golf Club offers a different golfing examination to Bonville. She said: “I’m confident after last week and this is my kind of golf course. The greens are small and the fairways are tight and you’ve got to be accurate with your irons, which I usually am. It’s a completely different golf course to last week but they are both very good and I can’t wait to get started.”

Artis (below), who was born and raised in Coonabarabran, said: “I’m an NSW girl, so it will be nice to play some good golf at the Women’s NSW Open. I went close at Oatlands a couple of years ago, so it would be a real thrill to win my local Open.

“It’s hard to beat Coffs. It is one of the best coastal areas of all of Australia. It’s a spectacular little town.”

The other players expected to be in the mix include Olivia Cowan of Germany, England’s Dame Laura Davies, Jenny Haglund of Sweden and Xi Yu Lin of China.

There are also six French players in the field, including recent winners Camille Chevalier and Isabelle Boineau, who will all have been inspired by their compatriot Céline Boutier’s triumph at the weekend.