Australia's Alison Munt
shot a one over par 73 to win the Hannover Expo 2000 Ladies Open by one shot
from Valerie Van Ryckeghem. Gale force winds made scoring difficult round Rethmar
Golf Links and Munt's 73 was one of the best rounds of the day.
The victory was Munt's
first in 12 years on the LET and she said it is a great feeling.
"It seems like I've waited
a lifetime for this, I feel quite numb," the 34-year-old said. "It was very tough
out there today, I just tried to keep the ball in play as I was sure that no-one
would run away with it."
Munt finished the tournament
on four under par, 212, on a day when the wind was so strong it verged on hurricane
conditions.
She went into the final
round with a one shot lead from Belgium's Valerie Van Ryckeghem and it was left
to the two of them to battle it out as the rest of the field struggled to overcome
the vicious wind.
After Munt missed the green
and dropped a shot at the par four first and double bogeyed the fourth after
she had to take a drop out of the rough, Van Ryckeghem took a one shot lead.
Birdies at the sixth and
ninth pulled the Australian back though and after Van Ryckeghem birdied the seventh
the two were tied on four under after nine.
Both players bogeyed the
par three 11th and it was only when Munt holed a 20 foot putt at 14 that she
regained the lead.
Munt's putt proved to be
the decider as both players went on to par their way in, giving Munt the title
and the £15,000 first prize.
Rookie Marine Monnet continued
to show great promise as she held onto third place with a one over par 217 aggregate
at the close of play.
The best rounds of the
day came from Italy's Isabella Maconi and England's Johanna Head who both posted
one under par 71, impressive given the trying conditions.
Prominent on many people's
mind were the Solheim Cup points on offer for the tournament's top 10.
Van Ryckeghem, who lay
eighth in the rankings at the beginning of the event, now lies third, very much
in contention for a place in the team.
The amateur medal was won
by the Netherlands' Marcella Neggers who finished on 12 over par, 228.
212 A Munt (Aus) 67 72 73
(£15,000)
213 V Van Ryckeghem (Bel)
70 70 73 (£10,150)
217 M Monnet (Fra) 69 72
76 (£7,000)
218 C Dibnah (Aus) 74 72
72 (£5,400)
219 C Nilsmark (Swe) 71
72 76, C Hall 66 75 78 (£3,870 each)
220 N Karlsson (Swe) 75
71 74, R Kirkwood 73 70 77
222 I Maconi (Ita) 70 81
71, K Taylor 76 71 75, R Carriedo (Spa) 69 76 77
223 J Head 71 81 71, L Tadiotto
(Bel) 72 78 73, S Waugh (Aus) 72 76 75, J Forbes 76 72 75, J Van Hagen (Ned)
75 70 78
224 S Eklund (Swe) 73 76
75, K Lunn (Aus) 73 76 75, L Hed (Swe) 70 78 76
225 I Tinning (Den) 74
79 72, S Sandolo (Fra) 74 78 73, S Fischer (Aut) 75 77 73, A Gottmo (Swe) 74
76 75, S Gronberg-Whitmore (Swe) 72 77 76, L Brooky (Nzl) 73 75 77, M Hedberg
(Swe) 71 74 80
226 E Ratcliffe 77 76 73,
L Fairclough 78 74 74, H Alfredsson (Swe) 74 77 75, A Nicholas 72 77 77, S Mendiburu
(Fra) 73 75 78
227 M Lojdahl (Swe) 75 78
74, F Dassu (Ita) 75 78 74, R Hakkarainen (Fin) 75 75 77, L Lambert (Aus) 71
79 77, J Mills 74 76 77, V Stensrud (Nor) 74 75 78, G Sergas (Ita) 71 76 80
228 M Adamson (Rsa) 76 77
75, A-B Sanchez (Spa) 69 84 75, J Chuasiriporn (USA) 79 74 75, A Neggers (Ned)
76 76 76, J Oliver 72 77 78
229 L Kreutz (Fra) 75 76
78, A Berg (Swe) 74 77 78
230 N Azam (Swi) 72 80 78,
N Fink (Aut) 76 76 78, S Jelander (Swe) 74 76 80, W Daden 75 75 80
231 S Dallongeville (Fra)
76 76 79, B Pestana (Rsa) 74 78 79, E Poburski (Ger) 78 74 79, S Head 72 76 83
232 M Hageman (Ned) 76 76
80, J Leary (Aus) 70 80 82, N Moult 78 73 81
