Christel Boeljon of the Netherlands came from three strokes behind
overnight leader So Yeon Ryu to claim a
one-stroke victory at the RACV Australian Ladies Masters Sunday.
A final-hole birdie from five feet
meant the European Solheim Cup player earned her second Ladies European
Tour victory with rounds of 66-65-68-68
for a 21-under-par 72-hole total at the
par-72 RACV Royal Pines course on the
Gold Coast in Queensland.
Meanwhile, a level-par round of 72
saw Ryu, the reigning U.S. Women’s
Open champion, slip into a share of
second with Diana Luna and Ha-Neul
Kim, who both shot 67.
Two days ago, the talk at Royal Pines
was who was going to catch Ryu, after
she fired off an 11-under 61, giving her
a commanding four-shot lead heading
into the weekend.
But the 21-year-old, who admitted
to being tired after her 61, struggled
over the final 36-hole stretch, posting
just seven birdies and four bogeys in
the last two days.
Boeljon, 24, remained composed
throughout. Playing with new clubs,
Boeljon shot 4 under on both Saturday and Sunday, not once appearing
intimidated by Ryu’s credentials or the
situation.
Pre-tournament talk centered
around teenagers Lexi Thompson, 16,
from the U.S., and New Zealander Lydia
Ko, 14.
The former, a pro, has won on both
the LPGA and Ladies European Tours,
while Ko, an amateur, two weeks ago
became the youngest player, male or
female, to win a professional tournament, capturing the Women’s New
South Wales Open. Neither, however,
were factors. Thompson finished T15
and Ko T32.
READ MORE RESULTS
MAST TOPS EURO SENIOR Q-SCHOOL
Senior Tour season, with 12 further
players securing conditional cards,
including 2009 Scottish Senior Open
champion Glenn Ralph, who carded a
closing 73 to share seventh place with
Australian Tim Elliott on 1-under par.
The 18 players to gain cards for 2012
came from eight different nations. The
other players to secure playing privileges were Scotland’s Terry Burgoyne,
who finished ninth on level par; French-
man Roger Sabarros, Canadian Dave
Wettlauffer, Japan’s Archie Takamatsu
and American Charlie Bolling, who
all finished 1-over par; Japan’s Seiki
Okuda, American Mike Donald, Jamai-
can pair Peter Horrobin and Delroy
Cambridge and Canadian Ken Tarling,
who all finished 2-over par.
READ MORE RESULTS
PRATT WINS ON ASIAN TOUR
