Laura Fuenfstueck (-10) has maintained the lead with which she started the day and has won the prestigious PIF London Championship to claim her first victory on the Ladies European Tour.
The German needed 115 tournaments to establish herself in the elite of European golf, achieving this at the age of 30 and after fifteen top ten finishes. If the wait of over a hundred events to win felt long, imagine what she endured this Sunday.
She started with a three-shot lead, but in the blink of an eye, her advantage vanished. A double bogey on the third and a bogey on the fourth. Not only did she lose the lead, but she also dropped to six under par. The nerves of having her first victory within reach were taking their toll. She made a birdie on the sixth, but another bogey on the ninth brought her back to three over par for the day with half the course still to play. A real day of torture was looming for Fuenfstueck.
Meanwhile, an army of players positioned themselves at seven under par. Laura needed to react, but not with any heroics to turn it around. As if freed from the pressure of victory in her mind, the German seemed to loosen up and her best game re-emerged. Two almost consecutive birdies between the 12th and 14th holes boosted her round, taking her to -8.
Meanwhile, on the 18th hole, Daniela Darquea (-9) had a putt of almost three metres to post nine under par in the clubhouse, the best result so far. The player from Quito was also aiming for her first victory in the Ladies European Tour at Centurion Golf Club. Darquea didn’t hesitate and holed it right in the centre. Birdie, fist in the air, and the intuition that it could be a great day. It wasn’t to be.
Fuenfstueck faltered on the 17th hole, knowing that if she wanted the win, she needed two birdies to finish. With one, she would go to a playoff. That’s when her best version shone. Birdie, birdie, and an agonising victory. How she looked to the sky after sinking the last putt of barely half a metre to seal the win. A pressure she knows she has been battling throughout her career for this moment to arrive, and it did so in an agonising manner.
Carlota Ciganda (-5) had a tough time. The Spaniard ruined her chances in the first six forgettable holes with a double bogey and two other slips. A massive burden, she started second and in just six holes, she dropped beyond the top twenty. The player from Ulzama was no longer fighting for the tournament, but for honour. She gave a lesson in resilience and, like the champion, finished the last nine holes with four flawless birdies. She came close to the top ten, but with the satisfaction of having fought until the last stroke and not letting a Sunday that pointed to a major disaster get the better of her. A level par card, 73 strokes, and an eleventh place in London.
Among the other Spaniards, Marta Sanz (-4) stood out with a final round of 70 strokes, finishing the tournament among the top twenty of the prestigious event. Marta Martín (-1) finished thirtieth. Meanwhile, Luna Sobrón (+1) concluded her participation at Centurion with a round of 74 strokes, finishing in T41.
Final results of the PIF London Championship
