New Zealand’s Lynnette Brooky maintained her overnight lead to claim the Ladies Spanish Open title by three strokes from French Solheim Cup player Gwladys Nocera after a thrilling final round at Panorámica G&CC in Castellon.
Brooky secured the victory with a brilliant two under par 70 for a total of 13 under par 275 to claim her fourth Ladies European Tour victory.
The win earned the Kiwi a place in the prestigious Evian Masters tournament which takes place in July and secured her playing rights on the LET for the next three years after she last won at the 2003 French Open. She also won the event in 2002 and the 1998 Austrian Open.
Brooky, who had led after the first and third rounds and set the course record of 66 on Thursday, which she bettered with a 65 on Saturday, began and finished the day three shots ahead of Nocera but gained a four shot advantage after her first birdie of the day at the fourth hole. Nocera replied with birdies at the fifth, sixth and ninth holes, with a bogey at the eighth hole but Brooky posted two further birdies at the sixth and seventh holes. By the turn, the 38-year-old from Wellington had charged into an unassailable position with a four shot advantage.
After a birdie at the tenth hole, she was five clear of Nocera. But then, she double bogeyed the 11th after finding a difficult lie in a bunker. Nocera took a birdie and the gap decreased to two, before following up with two bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes.
The Kiwi took another double at the 17th where her second shot found water but she refused to be put under pressure.
At the 18th, she produced an accomplished shot to eight feet and safely two putted to claim the victory, while Nocera had to be content with her fourth second place finish in two years.
After collecting her trophy – and her winner’s cheque for 41,250 euros, Brooky revealed that she was delighted to win after three years without a victory.
“I said to my caddie Gerald that I wanted to get into Evian and we only had a small amount of time to do it so I just really thank Gerald and my coach Di for sticking with me this week and for giving me the confidence to do it.
“It’s been a long time waiting but you know if I didn’t get a win this year I would lose my winner’s status. I knew if I didn’t win this year I’d have to work hard to keep my card, so it’s nice to know I can play on the Tour for the next three years.
“I didn’t worry about the double bogeys. I said to myself the one thing I will not do this year is freak out. Even when I hit that six-iron in the water on 17 I said to myself, ‘this is golf’. I know I’m a good player. I can do this. I got really quick on my six-iron. I was thinking about whether it was too much club because on the last day last year I took too much club and I flew the green so that was running through my head. Then I said just trust it and I said to Gerald, ‘just give me 100 yards’. On 18 I just wanted to get on the green and even two putt just to get the ball in the hole and win the tournament.
“I’d love to win at Evian. I’ve got the confidence to do better now and I think I’m turning into a better all round player. I’m going to go out there and try to win the next one too. Today was good because it was very relaxed and I don’t think I’ve lost any energy from this game of golf. I think I can go out there and play well again.”
Nocera, who carded a final round of 70 to finish on a total of ten under par, said that she has seen the benefits of working with a new sports psychologist, called Isabelle Inchauspe, who was observing her play at this week’s tournament.
“We decided to work on a few things this week. She’s told me to focus on each shot and not think about the result. I’m just focusing on the moment. It worked because I played well but then I struggled on 15 and 16 where I three putted on each one.
“I just putted really badly again today. I saw that I was not too far behind so I just stayed focused on what I had to do. I ended up birdying 17 and 18 so I’m pretty happy with the finish as well as being kind of disappointed. Second is always better than third.”
In her second year on the LET, Switzerland’s Nora Angehrn took outright third position after posting a final round of 71 to finish on a total of eight under par for her lowest finish on the LET. She said: “I’m very happy and I’m looking forward to playing in Switzerland next week. I had a good birdie and a good putt on five and on the seventh I had a bogey because the grass was very high. At 14 I holed a long putt so I have a lot of positive things to take away.”
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