Your quick guide to last weeks women's golf from around the world!
LPGA- HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA OPEN
Minjee Lee claimed her 5th LPGA title with a win at the LA Open. She finished on -14, 4 shots clear of Sei Young Kim of Korea.
The 22 year old Australian finished with a birdie on 18 after holing a 15ft putt. After her round she said "Coming in, the first half of the year that I've had, I've been hitting it pretty solid and playing pretty solid,I felt like it was close. I feel pretty good with this one."
Lee fired 4 rounds in the 60's and looks set to climb the world rankings to number 2 after her win.
Finishing in tied 3rd were the American pair of Morgan Pressel and Annie Park. They both had good closing rounds to finish 5 back on -9.
Minjee Lee moves to 2nd in the CME race to the globe.
Next Event: 2nd May 2019, LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship
4 to watch results:
Jin Young Ko 5th
Eun-Hee Lee 55th
Moriya Jutanugarn MC
Nelly Korda MC
LET- Lalla Meryem Cup (Morocco)
Nuria Iturrios of Spain won the Lalla Meryem Cup at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco, three years after her maiden victory in the same tournament.
At the beginning of the day it looked like a straight shoot out between Iturrios and Lina Boqvist of Sweden who were tied on -10 and 7 shots ahead of the rest of the field.
However, it was the 23-year-old from Palma de Mallorca who carded a final round of three-under-par 70 to win by seven shots from Boqvist and a surging Caroline Hedwall of Sweden.
Boqvist carded an uncharacteristic 77 to slip away on the final day. Afterwards Nuria said “It’s amazing for me to win again here. I’m so happy to be here and I hope to keep it going, On the last hole, I told my coach, ‘We are getting so close,’ and I was nervous but I think we did a great job. I just want to keep going and enjoy it now,”
German rookie Esther Henselet had another good finish closing with a 67 to end up Tied 4th. She goes back to the top of the rookie of the year race. Also finishing 4th were Marianne Skarpnord who led the Order of Merit heading into the event but has now been overtaken by Iturrios, Laura Fuenfstueck who is putting together a nice run of good results and English player Hannah Burke also finished 4th.
One of the other stories of the closing day was defending champion Jenny Haglund’s course record round of 64 (-9) which included a hole in one on the par 3 6th. Afterwards she said “Today was a really great day. It was just one of those days where golf is really easy. It felt like I could make birdie on every hole and it’s not often that happens. Holing out for a hole in one on top of that was really nice and to keep on going after nine and make a few more birdies coming in was really sweet.”
Next Event: 2nd May 2019, LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship
4 to watch results:
Laura Fuenfstueck 4th
Marianne Skarpnord 4th
Meghan MacLaren 28th
Leona Maguire 46th
KLPGA- CreaS F&C The 41st KLPGA Championship
World number 28 Hye Jin Choi claimed victory in Korea this week. The teenager collected the winners check of around 150,000 Euros.
Choi finished on -13 after 4 rounds tied with Park So yeon but managed to defeat her in a playoff to claim her first title of 2019 and move to 2nd on the official money list for 2019.
Choi who is staying in Korea to study instead of playing on the LPGA has been has high as 7th in the world rankings and won the Order of Merit last year.
LPGA player Eunjeong Lee6 finished 4th on -10.
Next Event: May 5th 2019, The 6th Kyochon Honey Ladies Open
Japan LPGA- 38th Fuji Sankei Ladies Classic
Former world number 1 Jiya Shin claimed victory at the 38th Fuji Sankei Ladies Classic. She beat 3 players including Ai Suzuki by 2 shots. Shin Fired an amazing final round of 63 to come from 7 behind to win.
Shin’s incredible finishes for the season now read 5th, 6th, 2nd, and then winning her last 2 events. Shin leads the Order of Merit and has already won more than 300,000 Euros this season!
Next Event: May 3rd 2019, Panasonice Open Ladies Golf Tournament
Symetra Tour- Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout trophy
Cydney Clanton beat Julieta Granada of Paraguay on the third hole of a sudden-death to win the fifth annual Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout. Both players finished on -2 which was two ahead of the rest of the field.
It is the second career Symetra Tour victory for Clanton. She captured the 2013 Four Winds Invitational, also in the form of a sudden-death playoff. She withstood a furious charge from Granada, who put together an outstanding 3-under par 69 final round.
Afterwards she said “The other playoff was seven holes, so to do it in three holes was a lot nicer not having to go back to the tee again, everybody is like, ‘Why aren’t you more excited?’ I don’t know if it has hit yet. It has been a weird year, coming in this was my first event of the year. It’s kind of crazy to be standing here doing this interview.”
Granada moves to the top of the Race for the card rankings while Clanton goes 6th.
Next Event: May 9th 2019, IOA Invitational
Womens Amateur Asia Pacific Golf Championship
Atthaya Thitikul gave a good performance in the quest to defend her WAAP title, however, it was Yuka Yasuda from Japan who shot a breathtaking final round of 65 to win by 8 shots from Thitikul who finished 2nd.
Yasuda was 6 behind after round 1 but 2 days of bad weather were to follow and Yasuda relished the conditions while others faltered all around her.