Taylor slump lets Cavalleri win

A disappointing final round from England's Kirsty Taylor left Silvia Cavalleri, the 1997 European and US amateur champion, celebrating her first professional victory in the £50,000 Royal Marie-Claire Open in France.

The 26-year-old Italian shot a closing 71 to finish on one-under-par 215 at Evian, one shot ahead of compatriot Federica Dassu and Spain's Ana Belen Sanchez.

Taylor, two shots ahead overnight, slumped to a third-round 76 and had to settle for fourth place on one-over 217, for which she collected £2,700.

For Cavalleri the reward was a £7,500 cheque plus a spot in next month's £689,000 Evian Masters, the richest women's tournament ever to be staged in Europe.

Johanna Head, joint seventh following a 74, and Claire Duffy, joint 10th after also carding 74, were the other Britons to finish in the top 10.

Final Scores

215 S Cavalleri (Ita) 71 73 71

216 F Dassu (Ita) 73 73 70, A-B Sanchez (Spa) 71 72 73

217 K Taylor 72 69 76

218 V Roques (Fra) 71 72 75

219 R Lautens (Swi) 72 72 75

220 J Head 76 70 74, V Michaud (Fra) 76 70 74, L Navarro (Spa) 73 74 73

221 C Duffy 71 76 74, M Arruti (Spa) 70 79 72

222 M Murray 72 75 75, C Schmitt (Fra) 73 76 73, M Hageman (Ned) 79 72 71, N Fink (Aut) 75 71 75

224 S Dallongeville (Fra) 75 76 73, E Poburski (Ger) 70 79 75, J Mills (Aus) 74 75 75, M De Boer (Ned) 77 74 73, N Moult 74 73 77, A Berg (Swe) 74 73 77

225 E Ratcliffe 76 75 74, R Carriedo (Spa) 73 73 79, X Wunsch-Ruiz (Spa) 76 76 73

226 A Munt (Aus) 73 74 79, B Hackett 73 78 75, E Quelhas (Fra) 76 76 74, H Hopkins (Aus) 79 74 73

227 S Forster 77 75 75, N Karlsson (Swe) 75 78 74, M Hedblom (Swe) 78 7871, I Tinning (Den) 74 72 81

228 J Forbes 75 75 78, I Maconi (Ita) 79 73 76, J Oliver 78 74 76, M Sutton 76 78 74

229 K Thomas 74 76 79, S Mendiburu (Fra) 76 76 77, C Viellard (Fra) 75 78 76, C Hall 79 74 76, S Bennett 77 77 75, A Larraneta (Spa) 78 76 75

230 P Meunier Lebouc (Fra) 74 76 80, K Ross 78 75 77

231 R Hakkarainen (Fin) 74 78 79, S Dickens 73 81 77

232 S Elliott 76 77 79, S Head 79 78 75, L Kreutz (Fra) 81 74 77, J Castanier (Fra) 73 80 79

233 G Stewart 74 82 77

234 M Wright 77 79 78, A Arruti (Spa) 74 83 77

237 M Verspieren (Ger) 77 77 83

239 S Fischer (Aut) 81 76 82

240 S Westling (Swe) 78 82 80, E Esterl (Ger) 84 81 76

242 A Johns 83 77 82

245 J Stalvant (Swe) 82 84 79

246 B Herrmann-Bensinger (Ger) 80 82 84

249 V Palli (Fra) 81 82 86

250 S Melin (Swe) 85 82 83