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When both Scandinavians birdied hole-14, Ekelundh’s birdie broke a run of 13 pars in succession.
At 16, the pivotal hole, the Swede gained a two stroke advantage when she chipped and putted for birdie and Moltke Leth found the bunkers twice on her way to a double bogey seven.
Ekelundh birdied the short 17th with a putt from inside eight feet to move to seven-under-par but three-putted the last from the back of the green for bogey and her victory.
“I was a bit nervous on 18 but apart from that I was fine. I played well and I was so happy,” said Ekelundh, who previously won back-to-back Portuguese Ladies’ Open titles in 2004 and 2005.
“This is one of my favourite courses all year if not the favourite. It’s a good design and you ever see the same hole twice. I’ve had some good finishes here and I hope I get to come back and play here again.”
Ekelundh admitted that it was difficult to ignore the cheers for the local favourite Masters, who hails from nearby Pembury.
“We heard a row every time Danielle holed a birdie putt and of course it’s very nice to see her play so well on her home course,” Ekelundh commented.
Masters, 23, was thrilled with her finish and she said: “It was breathtaking to see all the support from people that I hadn’t seen for ages and whom I didn’t know still followed my career. The extra support was in my favour which was nice.
“I set my goals really high for this week I felt as though the latter half of the year I’ve played really well. I couldn’t be happier with the way I finished with a birdie on 18.
“I’ve never been in the last two groups in a professional tournament. I’ve just got to build on it and work on the things that have let me down this week and head to Dubai and hope for better things.”
