Sunday saw the final round of the Aramco Houston Championship at Golfcrest Country Club as Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz fired a final round of four-under-par to secure her fifth Ladies European Tour title.
Ireland’s Lauren Walsh, who fought hard on Saturday to go four-under and just squeeze above the cutline, couldn’t emulate that score on Sunday, as the 24-year-old posted a one-under score of 71.
In an uneventful 18 holes for Walsh, the Kildare native made two birdies on the front nine and a single bogey on the back nine, seeing the 2023 NCAA Division One champion finish the tournament in a tie for 43rd on two-under-par.
Eventual winner Iturrioz began the day in second place just one shot behind fellow Spaniard Carlota Ciganda.
Three birdies in her final five holes saw Iturrioz make a late jump to the lead, leapfrogging Ciganda and England’s Charley Hull to finish on 13-under and win her first event since 2023.
“I’m really happy! I can’t explain my feelings. I’m really glad I have this trophy. Thank you very much for everything,” said Iturrioz. “With my caddie, we have been working a lot throughout the year, and we have been up there a couple of times, but this win is for him also.”
The 29-year-old made six birdies throughout her final round, with a couple of them coming early on the third and fifth holes.
A lapse saw Iturrioz stumble a bit with bogeys on the sixth and 13th hole, but the Spaniard proved her mental strength to make three late birdies to take the win.
“There was a leaderboard on 16, I knew I had to make birdies. I had really good chances in the last six holes apart from the bogey at 13. I knew it was there, and I took it,” said Iturrioz.
“Anyone here can go low. You know you have to keep going on your own game and try to do your best because if you miss, someone is going to get it,” she added emotionally.
England’s Hull and Spain’s Ciganda ended the week in a tie for second place on 11-under-par in Houston.
Three birdies on the first three holes saw Hull set the pace as she posted a blemish-free round of five-under-par.
“I played A1 golf all day, I played really well, and I hit some nice shots coming in,” said Hull.
“Especially with my injury and coming back, I didn’t think I’d play well this week, so I’m happy with my result,” she added.
Ciganda carded a one-under round of 71 on the final day, which included four birdies, a bogey, and a double bogey to finish on 11-under.
“I thought I played pretty good today, I was very solid tee to green… Nuria (Iturrioz) is very competitive and a great player and has that fire like all Spanish do. I’m happy for her, it’s always nice when you win,” said Ciganda graciously.
Singapore’s Shannon Tan finished in solo fourth place on 10-under-par after a final round of 64 (-8), which included an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys.
In the LET Order of Merit, England’s Rhodes still leads and has 1,960.49 points to her name, as Singapore’s Tan jumped up to second place. With her victory, Spain’s Iturrioz climbed from 28th place to 13th and now has a total of 1,018.07 points.
Next up for the LET is a three-week swing back in Europe starting with the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open at Golfpark Holzhäusern from 11-13 September.
Leave a comment