England's
Trish Johnson has let a number of titles slip from her grasp this season but the
32-year-old Londoner made no such mistake Sunday as she opened with seven consecutive
birdies on her way to a five shot victory in the £100,000 Marrakesh Palmeraie
Open.
Johnson closed
with a five under 67 for a 12 under par 202 aggregate, while Belgium's Valerie
Van Ryckeghem equalled the cours record with a 66 to finish alone in second place,
one clear of the in-form Spaniard Raquel Carriedo. On any normal day Van Rykeghem's
start would also have captured the headlines, but the 24-year-old's eagle, birdie
and hole-in-one over the first four holes was understandably eclipsed by Johnson's
stunning birdie streak.
"It's
a great feeling to finish with a win and goes some way to making up for a few
of the missed chances this season," said Johnson after collecting the £15,000
winner's cheque. "I hit some great shots and made some great putts on the first
seven holes, but at the eighth it just didn't happen. I had a putt of about 15
feet and slightly under-read it.
"From
there on in it was always going to be difficult to keep it going since I was six
ahead. I'd have loved to have made a really good score but there wasn't really
much pressure on me to do so." It was Johnson's second victory in Europe this
season - she also won the French Open in July - and allowed her to maintain a
remarkable run that has seen her finish in the top-10 in her last seven European
events.
In fact,
Johnson has only finished outside the top-10 in two of her 12 European outings
this season, and had she not struggled with her putting would surely have been
placed higher than fifth on the final moneylist. "I suppose if I had putted a
little better these past few months then it could have been a remarkable season.
It's all about confidence. If the first one goes down then it's easier to keep
that swing memory. I'm still a little gutted about not winning the Cantor Fitzgerald
Laura Davies Invitational as I played some of my best ever golf that week. But
I've got a lot to build on now for next year and will certainly enjoy the party
tonight."
In reaching
the turn in 29 Johnson also equalled the LET record for the lowest nine holes,
while her seven birdie run equalled the record for most consecutive birdies set
by Regine Lautens in the 1988 Godiva European Masters in Antwerp.
Van
Rykeghem's seven iron was certainly the favourite club in her bag and she used
it to hole out from 140-yards for her eagle at the second and from 153-yards for
her ace on the third.
"That
was easily my best ever start to a round - the seven iron worked very well today,"
said Van Ryckeghem, who reached the turn in 30 and also posted her lowest round
of the season.
"I
didn't see the eagle go in but I did see the hole-in-one. I was shaking and very
nervous for a couple of holes after that. I'm very happy with my season and will
work hard with my technical and mental coaches over the winter months to get ready
for next year."
Despite
closing with a level par 72 Carriedo also capped off a successful year with her
fifth top-5 placing from 13 starts. The 27-year-old from Zaragoza finished sixth
on the final ranking and also guaranteed her place in next month's LET team for
the Praia D'El Rey European Cup against the men's Senior Tour.
France's
Catherine Schmidt posted a 68 for fourth place at five under par, while Elaine
Ratcliffe won the 1999 Bill Johnson Rookie of the Year Award after sharing joint
16th place over the Palmeraie layout. The English rookie finished just over £2,000
ahead of Esther Poburski of Germany.
