17-year-old Anna Huang overcame a six-shot deficit at the Lalla Meryem Cup and fired a sensational 66 to claim her third LET title, while Anna Foster was the best of the Irish and claimed 27th.
The Elm Park woman made four birdies and two bogeys for a final-round two-under 71 after back-to-back rounds of level-par, while Aine Donegan bogeyed two of her final three holes to card a closing 76 that dropped her to T52 on +2.
Sara Byrne, making just her second start after missing the early season with an arm injury that she feared could be career-ending, has something to build on after making the cut but closing with a 74 to finish on +3.
Canadian Huang carded six birdies and one eagle on Royal Golf Dar Es Salam’s Blue Course to pip overnight leader Kelsey Bennett to the title by one shot on 14-under par.
Huang’s victory follows an impressive few weeks after she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open a fortnight ago and finished T3 at the Amundi German Masters last week.
The win is Huang’s third on the LET in just eight months after she won back-to-back titles in September at the La Sella Open and Lacoste Ladies Open de France.
At just 17 years, six months and 24 days old, she also becomes the youngest player to reach three victories in LET history, surpassing Jeeno Thitikul’s previous record who was 18-years-old.
“I’m honestly just so shocked right now,” Huang said. “I didn’t know where the leaderboard was at and I didn’t know where Kelsey [Bennett] was at. I was just trying to stay patient and make pars in the last few holes. But it ended up being the win for me.
“I got a little nervous on the back nine. I mean everyone would. But I just kept playing my own game. To get my third win on tour in only my second year is incredible. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment!”
Six behind Bennett before the start of play, the young star got off to the hottest of starts in Rabat birdying her opening hole before carding a wonderful eagle at the par-5 2nd.
We soon moved to course record watch as Huang carded four birdies in a row at the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th to move to seven-under through eight holes, one off Bennett’s tally.
“I started off really strong,” Huang said. “All my putts were dropping and I was hitting it really close. The front nine was really solid. I was really focused out there.”
The Canadian would bogey the 9th to go out in 31 (-6) before adding another birdie to her scorecard at the 14th.
Bennett meanwhile moved three clear with four birdies in 10 holes before dropping shots at the 12th and 16th to help Huang draw level.
With the 17-year-old in the clubhouse at 14-under par, it all came down to the difficult 18th hole for Bennett. The Aussie’s tee shot would find the fairway bunker forcing her to layup. Despite a tidy third shot in, Bennett’s par putt would miss left giving Huang her third LET victory.
She was greeted by tour mates Shannon Tan from Singapore and Momoka Kobori from New Zealand on the 18th as the win was confirmed.
“Shannon’s been probably one of the best friends I’ve ever had,” Huang said. “She helped me when I was going through some rough patches last year. She’s always been the biggest supporter of me. I definitely looked up to her a lot last year. She’s just such an amazing person and one of the nicest people I know.”
With Bennett finishing second in Morocco, USA’s Anna Morgan and Italy’s Anna Zanusso ended the week T3 on 10-under par. The pair both recorded their best LET finishes in the process – Zanusso chipping in delightfully for par on the 18th.
Slovenia’s Pia Babnik, solo second before the start of play, finished fifth on nine-under par.
Defending champion Cara Gainer from England and Sara Kouskova from the Czech Republic ended the week sixth on eight-under par.
On the LET Order of Merit, Huang jumps into third position on 1,079.20 points after collecting 500 points for the win. South Africa’s Casandra Alexander still leads the way. She now has 1,777.65 points after picking up another top-10 this week. France’s Agathe Laisne is second on 1,477.70 points.
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