Turkish triumph is Melissa Reid's first pro victoryFROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITEBy BETHAN CUTLER
England’s Melissa Reid finally entered the winner’s circle today with a two-stroke victory at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open.
The charismatic blonde, 23, from Derby, played with poise and authority at National Golf Club in Belek, Antalya to close with a 74 and finish at three under par 216 over the par-73 lay-out , ahead of Denmark’s Iben Tinning (74) and Christel Boeljon from the Netherlands (72).
It was a significant win against a field of competitors that included Laura Davies who became the Ladies European Tour’s oldest ever winner at the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open in February, aged 46.
Reid looked like heir apparent to Davies as Britain’s best golfer as she said: “I’m very, very happy to be standing here with the trophy.”
“It wasn’t easy. I played really well on the front nine and didn’t do much wrong: I hit one bad shot and the back nine took its toll on me. I think I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes and I felt ready this week to win.”
Reid, after a stellar career as an amateur, had been knocking on the door since her first full season as a professional in 2008 and had finished second four times, having twice squandered leads going into the final round.
She denied feeling any pressure from other’s expectations. “Obviously I’m aware of it but it’s more the pressure that I put on myself,” she said. “Now I know that even when I don’t play well on the back nine, I can still pull off shots, even when the pressure’s on. It’s just a fantastic feeling. It’s great to feel that I can win, even without an A game. I don’t feel like I played flawless golf so I think it’s going to give me the confidence to keep winning and winning and winning.”
Reid took a two-shot lead into the final round and made a flying start with a birdie at the tough, par three second hole, which has an island green. She split the fairways with her drives and found all the greens before going on to post a second birdie at the par-four eighth-hole, opening up a four shot lead.
That margin was cut to two after she dropped shots at the 10th and 12th holes and Tinning had birdied the 12th.
After she three putted the long 15th, she held a slim one shot advantage over Boeljon, who then dropped a shot at the par-four 17th.
Reid played a great recovery shot from a cart path next to the 17th green to save par and almost holed her chip shot. “I kind of thrive on shots like that. I actually thought I’d hit the second shot better than I did. I cut it a little bit. That’s why I love the game: because you get shots like that. Lee just reassured what I needed to do and I did it,” she said.
“We were going to chip with a nine iron but decided on eight-iron and caught it absolutely perfectly. It was a bit unlucky not to go in really.”
She then sealed the win with a par on the water lined 18th hole. It was Reid’s first time working with caddie Lee Griffiths and she added: “He got better during the week. He got to know me. Hopefully it’s going to be a great relationship between us and we can win many tournaments together.”
Joint runner-up spot for Boeljon was her best finish in two seasons on the LET. Meanwhile Becky Brewerton (76) shared fourth place on one over with Mollie Fankhauser from the United States (73).
Germany’s Caroline Masson (74) and Florentyna Parker (74) shared fourth place on two over, while two strokes back in joint eighth spot were Monica Christiansen (72), Sophie Sandolo (73), Jade Schaeffer (74), Hazel Kavanagh (75), Ursula Wikstrom (75), and Laura Davies (77).
SCOTSWATCH. Dunblane's Lynn Kenny (Archerfield Links) was the top Scot with a joint 14th place finish on five-over-par 224 after rounds of 76, 77 and 71. Vikki Laing from Musselburgh, recovering well from a disappointing first day, finished on 226 with scores of 80, 74 and 72Teenage rookie Carly Booth from Comrie, the top Scot after an opening 73, slid back with subsequent scores of 78 and 76 for 227 but the former Curtis Cup player is making the cuts in her first few events as a professional and that augurs well for the future.FINAL TOTALSPar 219 (3x73)
216 Melissa Reid 71 71 74
218 Christel Boeljon (Ned) 71 75 72, Iben Tinning (Den) 68 76 74
220 Mollie Fankhauser (USA) 75 72 73, Becky Brewerton 72 72 76
221 Caroline Masson (Ger) 77 70 74, Florentyna Parker 73 74 74
223 Monica V.Christiansen (Den) 75 76 72, Sophie Sandolo (Ita) 75 75 73, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 75 74 74, Hazel Kavanagh 69 79 75, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 76 72 75, Laura Davies 75 71 77
224 Lynn Kenny 76 77 71, Stacy Lee Bregman (Rsa) 76 75 73, Kym Larratt 74 76 74, Rebecca Coakley 75 75 74, Hannah Jun (USA) 79 71 74
225 Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 77 76 72, Elizabeth Bennett 76 75 74, Alison Walshe 76 74 75, Caroline Rominger (Swi) 75 74 76, Henrietta Zuel 74 74 77, Sophie Walker 74 74 77, Georgina Simpson 73 75 77, Karen Lunn (Aus) 76 72 77, Km Juul (Den) 72 76 77
226 Vikki Laing 80 74 72, Sophie Giquel (Fra) 76 77 73, Lynnette Brooky (Nzl) 79 73 74, Stefania Croce (Ita) 76 74 76, Anja Monke (Ger) 74 75 77
227 Martina Eberl (Ger) 78 74 75, Mallory Blackwelder (USA) 71 81 75,
Carly Booth 73 78 76, Marta Prieto (Spa) 78 72 77, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (Fra) 75 74 78
228 Jessica Ji (Kor) 76 77 75, Rebecca Hudson 76 75 77
229 Linda Wessberg (Swe) 75 79 75, Felicity Johnson 73 79 77, Malene Jorgensen (Den) 74 76 79, Hannah Ralph 76 74 79, Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa) 77 73 79
230 Jeehae Lee (Kor) 77 77 76, Maria Boden (Swe) 75 72 83
231 Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 74 79 78, Carmen Alonso (Spa) 82 71 78, Ashleigh Simon (Rsa) 75 77 79
232 Carin Koch (Swe) 77 77 78
233 Bettina Hauert (Ger) 77 77 79
235 Camille Fallay (Fra) 77 75 83
Labels: LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
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