(Royal Porthcawl, August 15 2004) England’s Trish Johnson produced a faultless performance to win her first title in four years with a dramatic final day victory at the Wales ‘Golf as it should be’ Ladies Open at Royal Porthcawl GC.
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| Johnson – a grandstand finish |
Her birdies at the 16th, 17th were enough to open a two shot lead heading down Porthcawl’s famous final hole and when she dispatched the 30-foot right to left slider, it was truly a grandstand finish for one of the most popular players anywhere in women’s golf.
“…and it was never missing either,” laughed Johnson, who grew up on a diet of links golf at nearby Pyle and Kenfig and also here at Royal Porthcawl and Royal North Devon GC.
“I always thought I would win again, but I didn’t realise it had been that long. I knew I could still win otherwise there would have been no point me being out here.
“The eighth and ninth were the key and I made a fabulous up and down at the 13th from a horrible lie which kept the momentum going.
“Coming down the last few holes, I wanted to finish 4,4,4, but to finish 4,4,3 was a big bonus and to find out that Arsenal won 4-1 made a brilliant day even better!
“This event is a fabulous event and it’s very important to me as I know the area so well. I spent ten years down here and a lot of my friends and family came down to support me and that stood me in good stead all day.”
Johnson goes into the final event of the season with a good opportunity to win her second Order of Merit title at the Catalonia Ladies Masters from October 1-3.
But she will have to pass Davies, a five-time European number one. Only 100 points behind with 150 points available to the winner, it will be a mouth watering prospect as two of England’s greatest ever female golfers battle it out for the top spot at the end of the 25th year on the LET.
