England's Trish Johnson won her first
event of the 2000 Evian Tour when she came from five shots behind today to
win the £100,000 Daily Telegraph Ladies British Masters presented by
Kellogg's.
Johnson carded a four under 68 to finish with a nine under par 207 winning
aggregate, two shots clear of Norway's Vibeke Stensrud, who achieved her
highest finish as a professional after posting a flawless 67 over the
Mottram Hall layout.
Overnight leader Sofia Gronberg Whitmore of Sweden struggled to maintain the
form she showed on the opening two days and a disappointing 79 saw her drop
back into a share of third place on four under par with Alison Nicholas of
England and Scotland's Kathryn Marshall.
Johnson wasted little time reducing the deficit on Gronberg and posted
birdies at four of the first six holes on her way to a front half 32.
Although Gronberg made a birdie of her own at the fourth to move to 11 under
par, a pair of double bogeys at the fifth and par three seventh effectively
put paid to her chances and enabled Johnson to reach the turn with a
two-shot advantage.
"I was hitting it really well on the range and green before hand and I
thought that if I could get off to a strong start then I had a chance," said
Johnson after collecting the £15,000 winner's cheque.
"Sofia (Gronberg) just had a bad day I suppose, but four birdies over the
first six holes is enough to get anybody a bit worried. Although I didn't
expect to win before I went out this morning, I know from experience how
hard to protect that type of lead."
It was Johnson's 13th victory in Europe and moved her to the top of The
Solheim Cup rankings and into tenth spot on the Evian Moneylist. It also
bodes well for her visit next week to Canada for the Du Maurier Classic, the
final major of the season.
"It's always nice to keep playing when you're playing well," added Johnson,
who also finished second two weeks ago in Austria.
"In Austria I played as well as I've ever played, and although my first two
days here this week were fairly mediocre, today I hit some lovely iron shots
today and putted well.
"I've got two more goals this season: to do well in the Weetabix (Women's
British Open) and to help us win The Solheim Cup. I should do well at
Birkdale because I grew up playing links courses, and it's also about time
we beat the Americans. We've go to do it this time."
Johnson also gave credit to former touring professional Kitrina Douglas, who
gave her some putting tips earlier in the week.
"Kitrina pointed out a number of things with my putting and it got a lot
better," added Johnson.
"She asked me how long I stand over my putts in
relation to how long I take with my driving, which is the best part of my
game. It was something like between eight and 11 seconds with a putt,
compared to just two seconds on the tee.
"She also changed my grip slightly and it's now more like how it used to be.
Basically, I spent five hours practising my putting this week and the
results showed today."
Gronberg's final round collapse did little to help her chances of a place in
the European Solheim Cup team, a ambition she has held for the past two
seasons.
The Warwickshire-based mother-of-two is currently in 13th place on the
Solheim ranking and will now have to excel at the Weetabix Women's British
Open to stand a good chance of qualifying.
Second-placed Stensrud also had four birdies in a front nine 32, and got off
to an excellent start with a 20-foot birdie at the second. The 26-year-old
from Oslo holed-out from a bunker for a birdie at the fourth before draining
birdie putts from 10-feet at both the sixth and ninth.
Eight straight pars on her back nine were eventually interrupted by another
monster birdie at the last, this time from 25 feet. It proved to be a
memorable day all round for Stensrud, whose parents had travelled over from
Norway to see her compete for the first time this season.
"That was my best result as a professional and it was great to have my
parents watching as well - they were getting very excited," said Stensrud,
who had set a personal best with a joint third placing last month in
Ireland.
"I didn't think I had much chance of a high finish so I just went out to do
my own thing. I was eight back at the start if the day and so I didn't
expect much.
"After doing well in Ireland and okay in France, I missed two cuts in a row
so I went back to Norway and put in some good practise with Tom Hesto, the
coach from my home club."
Joint leader after the first day, Nicholas took a share of third place after
returning a level par 72, while Marshall went one better with a 71.
Nicholas' joint third placing may just have been enough to secure her
automatic qualification for the European Solheim Cup team.
Although the 1997 US Open champion was obviously aiming to do a little
better this week, it was enough to move her into fourth spot on the Solheim
ranking. This should also make Dale Reid's job a little easier when she
comes to selecting her five wild cards for the European team.
Although Patricia Meunier Lebouc finished in joint 26th at level par, she
still has a little bit to do between now and the cut-off date for Solheim
selection.
The 27-year-old Parisian, who has won twice this season, has three more
events in which to secure her place: the Weetabix in two weeks time, the
Compaq Open in Sweden and the LET Chart Hills Classic at the end of the
month.
The same applies to Spain's Raquel Carriedo and Valerie Van Ryckeghem of
Belgium, who finished joint 29th and joint 43rd respectively at Mottram
Hall.
Fifth place at Mottram Hall went to Dane Iben Tinning, who fired a two under
par 70, while New Zealander Kerrin Starr secured her best finish of the
season after equalling the day's lowest with a 67. The 29-year-old from
Lumsden finished in joint seventh place at two under the card.
