Australian Karen Lunn shot a superb final round of seven under par 65 to claim her ninth Ladies European Tour title at the Portugal Ladies Open.
The key to her final round was a fast start at Campo Real near Lisbon, with an eagle and three birdies over the first five holes. She played the front nine in just 30 strokes for a six under par outward total, before coming home in one under par, sinking a crucial birdie putt at the last hole.
Lunn, the 1993 Women’s British Open champion, finished on 12 under par after three rounds, one shot ahead of England’s Trish Johnson, who also shot 65, and Iben Tinning of Denmark (68).
The experienced LET player, in her 26th season on Tour, was on fire from the start of her final round, making a 30 foot eagle putt at the first hole to get within a stroke of the overnight leader Italian Stefania Croce.
Further birdies at the second, fourth and fifth holes meant that she was five under for the day after as many holes and had established a two stroke lead at ten under par.
She moved to 11 under with another birdie at the par-four ninth hole, where she chipped to within tap-in distance, but it could have been even better, had she holed her short birdie putt at the tough par-three eighth hole.
Two ahead at the turn, she dropped a shot with three putts on the 11th green, but made two crucial up and downs for par at the 12th and 13th holes. She knocked a shot stiff at the par-four 14th, and tapped in the birdie putt from two inches; three-putted 15; birdied 16 and then got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie on the closing par five.
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