It wasn’t the victory that Áine Donegan had been hoping for after taking the 36-hole lead in her debut as an LET member, but after a challenging Saturday, she closed out with a one-under round on Sunday to finish tied for 16th as France’s Agatha Laisné finished top of a bunched leaderboard.
Donegan entered the final round tied for eighth and four back of Australian qualifier Hannah Reeves, but a slow start in which she covered the first eight in one-over left her too far back to mount a challenge coming home. Birdies at the ninth, 13th, and 15th, with another bogey on 10 resulted in a closing 71 and her first LET paycheque is one for over €6,000.
Laisné followed up Saturday’s 64 (-7) with a 65 (-6) on Sunday to secure a one-shot victory over Thailand’s April Angurasaranee and Korean amateur Soomin Oh on 16-under par. This came after opening with rounds of 72-67 during a rain-hampered first couple of days.
“It feels really great,” Laisne said. “I’m really happy. It feels surreal and very, very happy. What’s next? No, I’m kidding! [But this win] means that my game is improving and I’m doing the right thing and I hope to continue and I’m really happy.”
Playing in the final group, Laisne’s two-shot deficit to overnight leader Reeves became three at the first when the Australian carded a birdie in front of her home fans.
The Frenchwoman responded with birdies at the second and third to move into an early share of the lead, however quickly found herself chasing for most of the afternoon as 17-year-old Oh went on a birdie bonanza carding eight in 11 holes from the fourth.
Despite birdies at the eighth and ninth, Laisne sat three back with six to play before carding an excellent eagle at the par-5 13th after reaching the green in two.
The eagle proved to be a catalyst for the 26-year-old from Paris as she made a clutch birdie at the par-3 17th to get to within one. This came moments after Oh dropped her second shot of the day at the 16th following a wayward tee-shot.
More drama followed at the 18th as Oh flew the back of the green with her third shot to squander another bogey. Angurasaranee meanwhile was unable to make a birdie to despite hitting another great approach – one of several close calls for the Thai star during her final round.
Laisne responded by showing nerves of steel coming down the 18th, splitting the fairway twice with her tee-shot and layup before hitting the green in regulation. She would two-putt for a first LET victory.
“I didn’t know anything,” the Frenchwoman said on the scoring situation. “Nothing. I just tried to make as many birdies as I could. I felt the pressure because I knew people were around, so it could have been me or could have been someone else. I didn’t know. So I tried to do the best shots as I could, even with all the pressure I had.
“The eagle was awesome. I was hesitant between my 3-hybrid and my 4-wood, but I saw the wind was a little right to left and I could get there with a really good three hybrid. And when it hit, it went out of my club. I could feel like it was pretty good, but it needed a little bit more height and it did.”
Anna Foster had a mixed final round, making five birdies but also five bogeys to close out with a level-par 71 that saw her finish tied for 37th. The Elm Park woman will be a little disappointed having been within touching distance of the top 10 after 36 holes, but her and Donegan are both back in action again at next week’s Australian Women’s Classic and there are plenty of reasons for the duo to be positive.
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