Sara Byrne produced her best round of the week on the final day of the LET’s Dutch Ladies Open to climb into a share of 18th place as Thailand’s Aunchisa Utama took down Dorthea Forbrigdt in a playoff.
It had been a largely frustrating week for the Irish contingent at the quirky Goyer Golf and Country Club. Olivia Mehaffey shared the first round lead but struggled badly on day two and missed the cut, while Byrne had climbed to within three of the lead before bogeying her final three holes in the penultimate round and Aine Donegan and Anna Foster were locked in midfield throughout.
On the final day, however, Byrne, who finished runner-up in her last LET start, hit the ground running. A birdie on the 10th – her first – was followed by another on 15 before her only dropped shot of the day which came on the 18th.
She responded by birdieing the second, then reeled off three-in-a-row from the fifth to move to five-under and pick up more valuable Order of Merit points having missed the early part of the season through injury.
Anna Foster also saved her best round for last. She matched Byrne’s 67, making seven birdies and two bogeys, to finish one shot behind her fellow countrywoman in a tie for 27th at -4, while Donegan carded a second successive 73 to end the week in a share of 64th at +2.
At the top of the leaderboard, Thai star Utama fired a bogey-free round of 66 to set the clubhouse target at -9 before being joined by Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and the duo headed back down 18 for the playoff.
The 35-year-old found the green in two and then sunk her 18-foot birdie putt to secure her maiden LET title and follow in the footsteps of Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab, who won this title in 2023.
“It means everything [to win], not only to me but every player. They put everything in their life to win or do the best we can. It means everything,” said Utama.
“It’s heartwarming to have players celebrate with you. I’m so happy to have friends around and not only Thai players but LET players. Everyone is so helpful.
“I facetimed my dad, it’s nine o’clock back home and they knew when I phoned them. He was so happy. My dad is crying.”
Utama began the day in a share of 15th place and rolled in her first birdie on the day on the fifth with a 12-footer before adding birdies on the seventh and the ninth holes.
The Thai star made a further birdie on 10 before back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 and a great par save on 18 to set the clubhouse lead.
“I tried to make par on every hole. I don’t think about making bogeys, I just wanted to make a par. I fixed my putter the last two weeks and now I try not to think about it too much when I hit it, I just go through and it worked,” she continued.
“[On her par on 18] I had to make that putt, so I have a chance to win. I just focused and committed to it, and it went in. I felt a lot of pressure waiting, but I tried to be as calm as I can and when I knew I had the playoff, I practiced and did my routine and kept calm and played.
“[On the playoff] I hoped the putt was going to go in, but I just made the swing as good as I can, so the ball ran in and I was so happy.”
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