Lauren Walsh managed to cling on to her tenth place spot in the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit and in doing so has given herself a spot in next week’s LPGA Q-Series final stage as she bids to join Leona Maguire and co stateside.
Walsh was projected to drop to 12th place in the season-long ranking heading into the final round of the Andalucia Open de Espana but despite carding a 74 for a one-over total to share 47th place in the tournament it was enough to finish in the top-10 on the LET.
The Castlewarden native missed out on a spot in the LPGA Q-Series final stage earlier in the year but she now has given herself a second bite of the cherry and has also secured appearances in next year’s AIG Women’s Open and Evian Championship.
In all, the 25-year-old registered seven top-10s this season and certainly went up a level in just her second season as a professional.
Anna Foster rounded off an impressive rookie season on the Ladies European Tour with a final round of 72 for a two-under total as she claimed 42nd on the order of merit.
Dromoland Castle star Sara Byrne managed to remain inside the top-70 in the order of merit to keep her playing rights for next season.
Byrne finished on three-over for the tournament and was 69th in the order of merit.
France’s Nastasia Nadaud stormed to victory firing a 66 to win by four strokes.
The 21-year-old started the day in third place, five shots behind overnight leader Trichat Cheenglab and found birdies early in her round at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf.
Nadaud made birdies on the first and third holes before an eagle on the fourth and she made a further birdie on the fifth to go to the top of the leaderboard.
After the turn, the Frenchwoman rolled in three birdies on the trot on holes 10, 11 and 12 before dropping a shot on the 13th and 16th holes.
However, Nadaud went to the 18th hole with a four-shot lead and rolled in her par to seal her win her maiden LET title with a score of 16-under-par.
“I don’t really know what to say! It’s been so intense all week, I’m really happy with the outcome,” said Nadaud. “It’s been a rollercoaster week, but it’s insane. I don’t have the words for right now.
“All week I had pretty weird shots to play from the trees and missing fairways, I hit amazing shots as well. I had a really hot start and was five-under through five holes. My putting has been really good all week and it has saved me a lot of shots. It’s been really intense.
“I think the previous experiences [of finishing second] really helped me. First in Belgium, I had a really stressful shot out of the rough and I stressed out. The same at La Sella, it was stressful and I didn’t know how to handle that. This time I had a stressful back nine from 13 to 16 and I knew how to handle that much better in my head and my game of golf as well.”
