Mimi Rhodes (-17) claimed her first title in her budding career on the Ladies European Tour this Sunday in Australia. The young English golfer, born in 2001, triumphed at the Ford Women’s NSW Open, a tournament shared with the Australian circuit, held at the Wollongong Golf Club in Sydney. Top 5 shared by Blanca Fernández and Nuria Iturrioz.
Rhodes started as the tournament’s standout leader on the final day and kept all her rivals at bay with a solid performance. She began strongly, marking her territory with two birdies in the first four holes and then made pars, 14 in a row, to lift the champion’s trophy.
Her first victory in the Ladies European Tour was only in doubt at the last gasp of the tournament. An Italian birdie by Alessandra Fanali (-15) on the 17th hole tightened the classification to the maximum. She was one stroke behind with the 18th, a par 5, to play. Anything could happen. However, the uncertainty lasted very little. Just seconds after sinking a superb birdie putt, Fanali sent her drive on the 18th into the penalty area, completely burying her chances. It was a significant error, missing to the left, where she shouldn’t have.
The Italian’s mistake significantly lowered Rhodes’ pulse and allowed her to play that final hole much more calmly. She played it by the book. She hit a great drive, a magnificent placement shot, reached the green in three, and secured the win with two simple putts for par. Earlier, on the 17th, she executed a chip from off the green to save a putt that ultimately proved crucial, as Fanali then holed the birdie putt.
Before that outcome, the golfer who pressed Mimi the most initially was Nuria Iturrioz (-11). The Balearic, who played in the star group, started her round extraordinarily. She made three birdies in the first five holes. She was the one who responded to Rhodes’ great start, but the Mallorcan from Son Servera fell out of the battle with a poor sequence of bogey and double bogey on holes 7 and 9. There, she lost the victory train.
Almost naturally, Blanca Fernández (-11) picked up the baton, the other Spaniard who started this Sunday with serious chances of victory in Australia. The Madrid native, with a three-under-par until the 13th hole, including two consecutive birdies on the 12th and 13th, reached a total of -14, three strokes behind Rhodes. At that moment, she shared second place with Fanali.
From there, it was difficult for her to finish the job. Three painful bogeys fell on holes 14, 17, and 18, and she finished in fifth place, tied precisely with Nuria Iturrioz. Be that as it may, and despite that slightly bitter final taste, the young Madrid native delivered an outstanding performance in just her fourth tournament on the Ladies European Tour, showing she has a very bright future ahead and that it won’t be the last time we see her in the final battle for victories. It’s her first top 10 in the LET. She starts the counter and makes a good leap in the European circuit ranking to the top 20. Similarly, Iturrioz is one step away from the top 10 in the order of merit.
Mimi Rhodes’ victory can be considered somewhat Spanish. She was born in Bath, Somerset, England, but grew up and trained as a golfer in Spain, specifically in Sotogrande, Andalusia. In fact, she holds her golf license with the Federación Andaluza de Golf, with which she has accumulated a good number of victories during her sensational amateur stage. Specifically, she emerged from the prolific factory of La Cañada. Her connection to Andalusia is so strong that her current coach is Jordi García del Moral, based at the Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande. In recent years, she has shared a team at Wake Forest with the Spaniard Carolina López Chacarra, with whom she was crowned NCAA champion in 2023. She earned her Ladies European Tour card at last year’s school, after already securing her first professional win on the LET Access. At the LPGA Tour School, she made the cut in the Final but withdrew before playing the fifth and final round.
