England’s Melissa Reid came from five shots behind overnight leader Holly Aitchison to clinch her second Ladies European Tour victory at the Deloitte Ladies Open in Holland.
Reid carded a two under par 70 in the final round at Golfclub Broekpolder near Rotterdam, which proved enough to dislodge Aitchison, who had led from the start after opening rounds of 67 and 71.
Reid was able to celebrate with her friends on the practise putting green before Aitchison had completed the 18th hole. She missed her birdie chance to tie Reid’s 54-hole total of three under par and had to settle for a share of second, which was her career best finish.
Caroline Hedwall followed up her wins at the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open and PowerPlayGolf last week with a tie for second and also finished on two under with Aitchison and Caroline Afonso from France.
In one of the most exciting climaxes to a Ladies European Tour event all year, Reid stepped her foot on the gas in the final round following a disappointing three weeks.
The 23-year-old from Derby had tied for 25th, 13th and 29th in Portugal, Germany and Slovakia respectively and she vowed to ‘step it up.’
Reid said: “I saw my coach on Monday and I analysed everything that I was doing the last few weeks and realised that I was doing a lot out of my comfort zone.
“It has been a tough couple of weeks, really. The last four tournaments I’ve not played great and I’ve suffered with a virus and stuff. I said to my coach, Dave Ridley, I meant business this week. It’s just awesome: an amazing feeling. I’ve not won for a year, so it’s good.”
When asked how she felt about being overtaken on the European Solheim Cup points list, she said: “I tried not to think about it.
“Obviously I knew it was going to be tough out there today but I stayed patient. Lee Griffiths, my caddie, was brilliant. He kept me completely basically in my own little bubble and we did it. It feels amazing; I’m ecstatic.”
Reid claimed her maiden victory at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open a year ago, but her consistency since turning professional has been phenomenal.
She has finished second seven times since turning her rookie season in 2008 and has posted three top-five finishes this season, as well as tying for second at the European Nations Cup as a team with Laura Davies.
Setting out in cooler, overcast conditions after several showers earlier in the day, Reid picked up her first birdie at the short fourth, after hitting a 6-iron to 12 feet. She dropped a stroke at the par-five sixth after her tee shot went right and her second rebounded backwards from the trees.
She bounced back with birdies at the seventh and the eighth holes to get two strokes behind Aitchison’s lead at halfway.
On the back nine, she played solid golf through the toughest holes and moved one clear of the field with a great birdie on 15.
According to Griffiths, she made a career par on 16 after hitting a bad tee shot out to the right. The ball was half plugged in the bunker and she splashed out to 30 feet before holing from across the green.
She three-putted for bogey on 17, after missing a two-footer and there was drama at the last hole when she found the trees off the tee and took a penalty drop. She hit her second short of the green, chipped up and holed a four footer to win €37,500 and move up to second on the LET’s Henderson Money List.
Diana Luna, Tara Davies and Anne-Lise Caudal shared fifth, with Caroline Masson in eighth spot. The home favourite Christel Boeljon made a strong start but slipped back in the latter stages to share ninth with Lynnette Brooky and Julie Greciet.
Australian Frances Bondad won a BMW 640i convertible worth 102,500 Euros when she holed in one at the 16th in the final round of the Deloitte Ladies Open.
The 23-year-old from Greystanes in New South Wales, registered her first hole in one at a professional tournament when she struck a gripped down 4-iron into the 146-metre hole.
