Karen Lunn
WOMEN’S PRO
Hot Putter Leads
Lunn To Victory
AGADIR, MOROCCO | Australian Karen Lunn
gave herself a belated birthday present, clos-
ing with a 5-under 66 Sunday to win the Lalla
Meryem Cup by three strokes.
Lunn, who turned 46 last Wednesday, won
for the 10th time on the Ladies European Tour.
She finished with a 72-hole total of 12-under-
par 272. She earned € 48,750.
Lunn began Sunday with a birdie at the sec-
ond, but bogeyed the next two holes. She got
those strokes back with birdies on five and six,
but faltered to another bogey at No. 7.
Lunn turned it on around the turn. She
poured in three consecutive birdie chances from
the 10th to jump to 10 under. After a pair of pars,
Lunn birdied 15 and 16 to pull away. She sealed
the win with pars on the final two holes.
I’ve been playing some good golf so it’s nice to
get the rewards.
Tandi Cuningham and Marianne Skarpnord
shared second place on 9-under 275. Cunning-
ham closed with a 67 and Skarpnord a 69. Holly
Aitchison and third-round leader Jade Schaef-
fer tied for fourth at 7-under 277.
“This means I hopefully get to play in the
Evian Masters, British Open, so it changes
everything. It takes the pressure off early in the
year. Obviously, then you re-assess your goals.
To win was a goal and I’ve done that a couple of
times this year so hopefully re-assess and play
well in the bigger events at the end of the year.
This is a great event and I’m thrilled to be here.”
Valentine Derrey ended alongside Sophie
Giquel-Bettan in sixth at 6-under 278.
Lunn owed her victory to a hot putter. She
holed for birdie from 50 feet on the 12th, from
35 feet on the 15th and eight feet on the 16th.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I don’t think,”
said Lunn. “It was so tight out there today. I
never let myself get ahead of myself and think
about winning until really I birdied 15 and 16,
and then I started to get nervous so it’s a relief
and a great thrill to win again.”
Asked how she felt about raising another
LET trophy at her age, she said: “Oh, it’s amaz-
ing. Especially the older you get, you never
know if you’ll ever get to this point again, so
just relief. I’ve worked really hard this year and
“Today was a very tight day, actually. We got
to the turn and I think there were seven or eight
players within two shots of the lead so it was
game on for anyone. I just managed to play the
back nine really well and made some putts and
that’s what you have to do. I haven’t been mak-
ing the putts but this week I did and managed
to sneak over the line.”
www.globalgolfpost.com
MARCH 26, 2012
Cullen Captures OneAsia Season Opener
Australian Nick Cullen triumphed in the
Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open on Sunday fol-
lowing a strong performance that may have
signaled the emergence of a star of the future.
Left-hander Cullen shot a final-round, 2-over-
par 74 to triumph by a stroke from David Smail of
New Zealand. Smail, the leader after the first two
rounds, closed with a 69 at Emeralda Golf Club.
New Zealand’s Michael Long, Japan’s
Yoshikazu Haku and American David Oh shared
third, two shots off the pace with Long card-
ing a 65 – the lowest round of the week – Haku
shooting 68 and Oh a 71.
The victory was 27-year-old Cullen’s first as a
professional and mak-
ing his success even
more distinguished
is the fact that
the event is jointly
sanctioned by OneAsia
and the Japan Golf Tour,
and is the season opener
for both.
Cullen finished with a four-
round aggregate of 9-under-par
279 and earned a cheque for U.S.
$172,000.
He was cruising to victory with a
four-stroke lead with five holes left,
but he let the chasing pack back into
the tournament when he triple-
bogeyed the par- 4 14th.
Over the closing holes, he found
himself tied for the lead on 8 under
with Smail, Oh and Haku. However,
on the par- 5 17th he holed a 20-foot
birdie putt to regain the sole lead.
A playoff beckoned on the par- 4
Nick Cullen
18th after Cullen’s approach missed the green to
the right, leaving him a difficult up and down. But
he pitched to five feet and holed the putt for victory.
READ MORE RESULTS
PLAYOFF DECIDES SUNSHINE TITLE
MAY EARNS EGOLF TOUR TITLE
In his 28th career start on
the eGolf Tour, dating back
to the 2010 season, David
May, of Auburn, N. Y.,
posted rounds of 72-64-
66-65 – 267 at the Irish
Creek Classic to capture
his first tour title and the
$28,000 first-place prize.
READ MORE RESULTS
