Pettersen wins first title in playoff

Sweden's Suzann Pettersen became the first
Norwegian to win an Evian Tour event, firing a birdie at the third extra hole to defeat Welsh rookie Becky Morgan at the £163,000 Ladies French Open at Arras GC.

Italy's Giulia Sergas and French rookie Karine Icher tied for third spot on seven under, with Spain's Solheim Cup star Raquel Carriedo finishing alone in fifth place on five under.

Pettersen, last years World Amateur champion, finished the third round three shots behind overnight leader Icher, and vowed to attack the course in search of her first victory and a spot at next weeks £1.3 million Evian Masters.

The affable 20-year-old rookie from Oslo began her final round 69 steadily with six straight pars before carding her first birdie at the 357-yard seventh, firing a pitching wedge close enough to lob the putt in.

A bogey at the ninth only interfered with her attacking style as she birdied the 153 yard 10th, holing a 20-foot putt. And the tall Norwegian admitted she got lucky when she chipped in for bogey after finding trouble from the tee at the 398 yard 12th.

Playing in only her second professional event of her career after being
sidelined with a serious ankle injury during the winter, Pettersen turned up
the gas with birdies at the 13th and 14th. And with another at the 17th,
showing off her big hitting prowess, leaving just a 50 yard pitch into the
372 yard par four, she posted the clubhouse lead.

Morgan, playing in the last group with Icher and Sergas was unsteady at the
first hole, having to play out of the reeds to salvage par. The two time
Curtis Cup player from Abergeveny dropped her first shot at the third, but
moved into contention once more with birdies at the fourth and sixth.

But further errors at the eighth, ninth and 12th seemingly put paid to her
chances of winning her maiden professional tournament.

However, the 26-year-old, who is dividing her time between the LPGA and
Evian Tour this season, moved straight back up the leaderboard with an eagle
at the 470 yard par five 13th firing a nine-wood into fifteen feet.

With a final birdie at the 372 yard 17th, and with Icher, who led for most
of the day, dropping a shot there, Morgan tied with Pettersen on eight
under.

In the ensuing playoff on the 552 yard par five 18th, both players parred
the first time around. On the second time of asking, Pettersen lipped out
from 25 feet for her birdie and Morgan had the chance to win from six feet,
sadly the putt slid by on the right.

On the third extra hole, the Welsh number one slipped up, finding the water
trying to lay up with a five iron.

Pettersen took full advantage and punched her nine iron third shot into just
two feet to claim the £24,450 first prize, securing the final spot for next
weeks £1.3 million Evian Masters in the process.

"Evian - yes," beamed the tall Norwegian, who had her mother Mona caddying
this week.

"I didn't get an invitation, so I thought at the start of the day I would
just have to go and do it myself - my only chance to get in was to win
here."

"I liked it out there and I proved to myself that I wouldn't mess it up, I
wasn't nervous out there at all," added Pettersen, who is coached by
Englishman Simon Holmes.

Despite her obvious disappointment, Morgan, who has been a professional for
only ten months, was upbeat about her performance this week and will return
to America to play in the MacDonald's Championship, the third major of the
year to see if she can secure her card on the LPGA.

"I was only nervous out there on the last hole because I didn't know what
Suzann had done up ahead. In the states, you get used to lots of people
watching you, but it is still nerve-wracking," said Morgan, who won £16,544
with her father Gwynne on the bag this week.

"I had the chance in the playoff, but it was a bit of left to right slider
and downhill."

"I have a regular caddie in the states and dad was kind of a last minute
thing. Actually, he is quite a calm guy and he helped me a lot this week."

Sergas, the 22-year-old from Trieste carded a final round 72 to pick up
£10,106. But the La Perla sponsored player found that she couldn't get in
the right frame of mind to win her first event.

"I wasn't nervous at all out there, I was really calm - too calm maybe. But
it is better to be calm than be nervous, there just wasn't any fire in me
today, it was strange, my heart was not beating!"

"I tried to play good, but when you try to understand why you can't play
good, it gets to you. From the seventh to the 12th, I missed every green. So
there were six holes where I had to chip and putt to save par and I wasn't
thinking about birdies."

Icher began her day with who led for most of the day was devastated when she
bogeyed the 17th green and despite scaring the hole for a birdie on the
final green, the 22-year-old, who won last years qualifying school in
Portugal, was pleased overall with her week.

"It is great to play in front of your home crowd, it's just a shame I
couldn't give them the win," she said. "It would have been nice to go to
Evian next week, but I dropped a shot at the wrong time."

Carriedo finished one shot ahead of three players on four under par and
added to her lead at the top of the Order of Merit with a £6,911 cheque. The
29-year old from Zaragoza challenged Icher for most of the rain soaked
afternoon, reaching the turn in one under par 35. But her chances slipped
away when she bogeyed the 15th and 18th.

Holland's Judith Van Hagen, South African Laurette Maritz and Norway's
Cecilie Lundgreen all tied for sixth place.

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