Charley Hull (-18) gave no chance to her rivals on the final day of the Aramco Team Series by PIF Riyadh, a tournament of the Ladies European Tour held at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia, marking the end of the regular season of the European women’s circuit. Fátima Fernández Cano (-10) and Luna Sobrón (-7), who started on Saturday with chances of victory, fell far behind after a modest final day.
Hull imposed her dominance from the start in the third and final round. An iron hand from the great favourite for the win. The Englishwoman wrapped it up in the blink of an eye. She began the day with five birdies in seven holes and sealed the tournament. None of her closest rivals could respond. In fact, in that same stretch, Pia Babnik, who started as the leader with a two-shot advantage, had made six pars and a bogey, the same as Fátima and Luna, the players closest to Hull.
After that opening, it was plain sailing for Charley. The only thing at stake was second place, a goal that the two Spaniards could not reach after a very inconsistent day of play. Luna Sobrón, with 76 strokes, was unable to make any birdies and finished in ninth position, while Fátima, heavily hindered by the putter and a poor tee shot on the 15th hole, had to settle for a card of 73 strokes, leaving her in fourth position.
It must be said that Fernández Cano offered a true lesson with the irons this Saturday. No one hit better shots to the flag than the Galician golfer, not even Hull. However, the Englishwoman was much more decisive on the greens. If Fátima had had a good day with the putter, she surely would have made things very difficult for the winner.
The highlight of the round for the player from Santiago de Compostela was the 15th hole. She missed the tee shot to the left, leaving it unplayable. She had to drop, and her third shot hit a tree and ended up out of bounds. Two unfortunate events that resulted in a good double bogey, as she hit a great sixth shot, still with many metres to the flag, and holed the putt from about two metres. She still finished with a magnificent birdie on the 18th hole, after another great iron shot, to climb to fourth place.
As it stands, victory for Hull (-18) with a three-shot lead over Nicole Broch Estrup (-14), who delivered a great round of 67 strokes, three over Babnik (-13) and eight over Fátima Fernández Cano, Anne Van Dam, and Helen Briem. As for the rest of the Spaniards, Carlota Ciganda (-4) did not have a good day with a card of 74 strokes and will need an invitation to be at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, Carmen Alonso (-3) finished with a round of 72 strokes, Ana Peláez (-2) and María Hernández (-2) finished with 72 strokes, and Nuria Iturrioz (+2) bowed out with a score of 74 strokes.
