England’s Melissa Reid, yet to win on tour

The year 2009 has provided another extraordinary season for the Ladies European Tour with a record 10 first time champions.

In April, Christel Boeljon and Marjet van der Graaff from the Netherlands won the Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup, which was a team event for pairs.

Then in May, Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord claimed the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open and Frenchwoman Jade Schaeffer secured the HypoVereinsbank Ladies German Open presented by Audi.

Spain’s Tania Elosegui continued the trend with a maiden LET triumph at the ABN AMRO Ladies Open in the Netherlands.

Sweden’s Johanna Westerberg claimed the Portugal Ladies Open and Japan’s Ai Miyazato netted the Evian Masters. Spain’s Beatriz Recari won the Finnair Masters, before Nicole Gergely claimed an historic win at the Randstad Open de France Dames as the first Austrian to win on tour.

England’s Felicity Johnson won the Tenerife Ladies Open. From 17 events played so far, there have been winners from 12 different countries: Sweden, Australia, England, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Italy, Wales, Japan, Scotland and Austria.

Only Italian Diana Luna has secured multiple victories with back to back wins at the AIB Ladies Irish Open and at the SAS Ladies Masters in Norway.

She went on to make history as the first Italian Solheim Cup player and now feels ready to net a third title of the season at the Madrid Ladies Masters, despite recent illnesses.

She explained: “I had such an unlucky last three weeks because my neck was completely blocked in Austria and I couldn’t even swing. Then, the week after I was sick with my stomach so I’m trying to recover.

“I’m still playing pretty well. I practised once last week on Saturday but haven’t played much the last month. I’m still in good shape and I think I can do well on this course.”

Placed fourth on the Henderson Money List, Luna continued: “This week is very important because the first prize is much bigger than second and allows you to make a great step forward. I would like to finish top three on the money list. I think I would need to win this one and Dubai to get much higher.”

There are nine 2009 LET champions playing in Madrid with 15 different nationalities represented.

Of those, there are only five nationalities yet to register a win on tour this year: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland and South Africa.