Italy 's Veronica Zorzi bogeyed the final hole to retain her Vediorbis Open de France title by a stroke from England 's Laura Davies after a thrilling final round at Le Golf d'Arras in northern France .
Zorzi closed out the defence of her title with a level par 72 for a total of seven under par 281 to claim her second Ladies European Tour victory – but she didn't make it easy for herself.
The 25-year-old Zorzi, who had led the second and third rounds, began the day four shots clear of Davies and Arricau and quickly charged into a seemingly unassailable position after two birdies in the first two holes. After three holes, she was five strokes clear and she held a four shot advantage at the turn.
Zorzi made it a five-shot advantage with birdies at the 10 th and 12 th holes, but from the 15 th , she came home with four bogeys in a row.
Davies, who had carded two birdies and a bogey on her front nine, barely threatened the Italian until the back nine, where two birdies took her to six under par after 13 holes. She finished with a three-under-par 69, for a total of six-under-par 282.
Zorzi held a two stroke advantage coming down the par-five 18 th hole but gave herself a scare by landing her second shot in a hazard by the television tower, from where she had no option but to lay up short. With Davies' facing a birdie opportunity to force a play-off, Zorzi had to get up and down for par to be sure of the title. But when Davies' missed her birdie putt from just six feet, Zorzi's two putts for bogey proved to be good enough.
“Last year I won with a birdie and this year I won with a bogey, but it's the same result so I'm very happy!” said Zorzi, who will jet off to the island of Formetara next week for a holiday to celebrate her win.
After re-collecting her trophy – and a winner's cheque for € 48,750 – she revealed that her heart was pounding coming down the 18 th hole.
“My heart was beating and when I hit my second shot at 18 onto the cart path I thought, ‘come on, give me a chance'. I hadn't a shot from there so I couldn't reach the green so I just had to chip and putt but I made my fourth bogey in a row.
“I was feeling very tired and emotional but I just kept trying to stay in the present and I just kept on fighting.”
Like last year, Zorzi was thrown in the lake by the Italian players following her victory, only this time, at the end of May; the water was a lot deeper - and colder.
Davies, who had her second runner-up spot in as many weeks, said it was mission accomplished in terms of her confidence being restored.
“I didn't really have a chance today,” she said. “Veronica was trying to give it to me there at the end but I missed the putt so it never felt like I was going to win at any stage. I had a chance at the last but the putt bobbled a couple of times and was never going in.
“Once she had given me the chance I thought, if I birdie the last then maybe she'll miss the putt and give me an opportunity. But a bit of confidence is back now, which is good.”
The French galleries were delighted to have three home stars in the top ten places.
The 2004 Open de France Dames champion came third after a level par 72 today and finished on three-under-par. Last week's winner Gwladys Nocera finished fourth on two-under-par and Nathalie David Mila tied for fifth position with Germany 's Anja Monke and Sweden 's Cecilia Ekelundh on one-under-par.
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