Áine Donegan secured the best finish of her rookie LET season and collected the biggest paycheque of her career to date, but she was left counting the cost of a poor finish in both monetary and ranking-point terms.
The Clare native went into the final round of the LET’s PIF London Championship in solo third place and playing alongside leader Anna Huang and chief chaser Charley Hull in the final group. Though victory chances were slim with Huang eight ahead of Donegan, a top-five finish would almost certainly secure her playing rights for 2027 and anything beyond that was a bonus.
Having reeled off four birdies to conclude her third round, she came out firing and birdied four of her first seven holes to draw within five of Huang and two shy of Hull. A bogey on nine proved a momentum killer, however, and it would be the par-5 15th before she’d get her next red number on the card. By that stage, she’d already dropped another shot on the 14th, but remained on course for a top-five finish at least.
But a disastrous finish lay ahead. A double bogey on 16 was followed by bogeys on 17 and 18 to drop her back to 10-under and a tie for 10th position. She still rose to 67th in the Order of Merit, and picked up over €36k for her week’s work, however.
It was a great battle between 17-year-old Huang and home favourite Hull. Huang, who led from the first round, held a three-stroke advantage at the start of the day and made birdies on the sixth and eighth holes before a dropped shot on nine.
Huang made a birdie at 15 to still be in front but found the water on 16 and rolled in a clutch bogey putt, meanwhile England’s Hull made a birdie to take the lead.
However, on the 17th Hull four-putted and made a double bogey to put Huang back in front and the Canadian sank her eagle putt on the last to win with a score of 22-under-par.
“That was probably the most thrilling round of golf of my life, that was crazy. I have no words. I’m just so shocked,” said Huang. “I knew coming down three tough holes was not easy and I tried to focus on each shot because anything can happen in golf and I stayed in my own lane.
“I can’t believe I made another eagle [on 18]. I focused on the putt and made a good stroke, and it went in. Charley is such a phenomenal player and playing with her in the past two days in the final group has been really cool. The crowds have been cheering really loud, so it was really fun to be part of the last group.”
That was Huang’s fourth title on the LET with her first coming at the 2025 La Sella Open closely followed by the 2025 Lacoste Ladies Open de France. The Canadian won her third title at the Lalla Meryem Cup in May before triumphing at the 2026 PIF London Championship.
Huang at the age of 17 years, nine months and 10 days becomes the youngest-ever player to win four LET titles beating the previous record held by Lydia Ko of 18 years, four months and 20 days.
“A year ago, I was at a really low point in my life and golf wasn’t really fun for me. I was dealing with all these thoughts, but with the help of my family and all my support I was able to get myself back together and push through that part,” she continued.
“I’ve always looked up to Lydia [Ko], she’s always been my idol growing up. There’s so much to admire about her game. She’s so calm and composed. Jeeno [Thitikul] is the biggest rising star of our generation and being part of that small group is special.”
Anna Foster shot her third level-par round of 73 of the week which, along with a 74, left her tied for 37th at +1, while Sara Byrne took one stroke more on the final day and finished in a share of 51st at +5.
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