The final day of the SA Women’s Open would see the unwelcome return of the winds as the course got fiery again. Consistency proved to be the spell required around Erinvale as Manon De Roey again put on a masterclass in the gusts to earn her second victory on tour.
Olivia Mehaffey carded a -1 for her final day to see her climb the board.
Mehaffey would again start brightly on the 10th this morning with an opening birdie in the unpredictable gusting conditions. Her goal for the day was to make progress up the leaderboard but this was halted with a dropped shot on her next hole, the par 4 11th. Mehaffey’s round was up and down as the Erinvale course was proving a stubborn opponent in round-four. Three more birdies including back-to-back on the par-4 5th and 6th holes were handed back with three bogies. She would show determination on a difficult day however, birdieing her final hole of the week to close out a one-under 71. Her +4 score at the end of the week was enough to climb 12 spots into a tie for 44th place. Progress for Mehaffey coming off the back of three straight missed cuts.
De Roey sent out a message after her round on Friday that she was using the wind to her advantage and today would see that plan put into action. A metronomic performance today, the Belgian would par her first six with just a single dropped shot to see her turn at lunchtime one-under for the day and five shots clear. Another run of eight straight pars saw De Roey coast home and even a bogey on her final hole would not take the shine off her performance today.
Having taken the lead on Friday and refusing to relinquish it thereafter, a 72 would see De Roey close out the tournament on -14 with four to spare on the second-placed duo of Momoko Kobori of New Zealand and England’s Gabriella Cowley.
The diminutive Belgian champion adds this victory to four top-ten finishes in ’24 and takes a €48k prize for her troubles. She now sits second on the order of merit behind Bronte Law after seven events played this year.
“I’m super happy with my performance this week!” De Roey said. “I had a couple of goals at the beginning of this year and one of them was to win again. I like playing in windy conditions because I feel like I can shape the ball well. I can just let the wind do the work and I feel a bit more relaxed. I’m very happy with my week.
“Today was pretty steady overall. I’m super happy with my win. I love South Africa! I didn’t think it was going to be windy so that was a surprise. It was tough but I managed. I’m so happy.”
Next up, after a week’s hiatus, the tour’s attention turns back east as Seoul plays host for the Aramco Team Series from the 10th to the 12th of May. With a million-dollar prize fund, some of the big hitters roll into New Korea Country Club with Charley Hull and Danielle Kang confirmed to contest in Korea. Lauren Walsh too will head east as she looks to bounce back from her disappointment of a missed cut this week.
Leave a comment