By Matt Smith
Dubai-based 16-year-old Chiara Noja showed once again why she is one of the hottest prospects for the future of women’s golf as she bounced back from a rib injury that forced her to miss the Aramco Team Series — London to finish T2 in Belgium and stretch her lead in the Ladies European Tour Access Series Order of Merit

Australia’s Kristalle Blum recorded her first victory on the series at the Golf Vlaanderen LETAS Trophy, one ahead of Noja, local star Sophie Bert and France’s Yvie Chaucheprat and Momoka Kobori from New Zealand.

The 24-year-old Blum held on to the one-shot lead at the start of the day having carded rounds of 69 and 67 on the first two days.

Although Blum dropped a few shots during the round, she signed for a three-over 75 to keep her single-shot lead in front of the chasing pack.

“I was very nervous the last few holes and just tried to focus on my breathing,” she said. “I had no idea where I sat on the leaderboard, so I just had to keep doing my thing and I’m glad it was enough.”

It was particularly special for Blum as she has had her brother Nick on the bag for the last three LETAS events, where she has had two top-10 finishes and a victory.

T2nd this week in ?? @LETAccess @golfvlaanderen LETAS Trophy. Disappointing making a double on 17th and coming short by one shot but that’s golf? Thank you @RBGF1912 @millenniumgolf for the class event.. ?France pic.twitter.com/kYEi18gFKC

— Chiara Noja (@thechiaranoja) June 25, 2022

With her runner-up finish, Germany’s Noja continues to dominate the LETAS Order of Merit standings with 1,171.25 points while New Zealand’s Kobori moves to the second spot with 813.75 points.

After her first win and three additional top-10 finishes this season, Kristalle Blum moves to fourth place with 740.75 points.

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The Englishman found himself three shots behind overnight leader Fox after eight holes on Sunday but showed his mettle on the back nine, clinching a two-shot victory with a winning score of 13-under par courtesy of a closing 68.

Horsfield’s third victory, following his wins at the Hero Open and Celtic Classic in 2020, comes just two weeks into his return from a three-month injury lay-off.

And the 25-year-old, who had his partner on the bag this week, was emotional as he completed a fourth round which contained four birdies and a single bogey.

“I was trying not to cry while I was over that little tap-in at the 18th. Having Issi on the bag, it’s been an amazing week. Mick (Seaborn, his regular caddie) is not here but I wish he was. I said yesterday I wanted to do it for him, and I was able to do it for him. I’m just so, so happy.

Horsfield said Seaborn “had been going through a tough time”.

“I definitely thought about Mick quite a lot,” he added. “Especially on the back nine, I pulled a few clubs that he definitely would have wanted me to hit.

“Issi has been amazing. I’ve been so happy on the golf course. It’s just like golf’s sort of got in the way this week, until a little bit there on the back nine. I asked her coming down 18 ‘are you nervous’ and she said yeah. But we’ve had an amazing week and I’m just so happy that she was here to enjoy this.”

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The post Emotional win for Horsfield on DP World Tour at Soudal Open in Belgium appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The in-form and previously unheralded Kiwi has had an amazing 2022, with three top-15 finishes and two close-run things since his RAK triumph, and he is showing no signs of letting up as he carded a third round of 66 in Belgium to reach 11-under, a shot ahead of England’s Sam Horsfield.

Fox took a while to warm up as he covered the first 10 holes in level par on Saturday at Rinkven International Golf Club — cancelling out a bogey on the third with a birdie on the next. But the 35-year-old’s finish was as hot as the weather as he raced home in just 30 strokes to move to the top of the leaderboard in pursuit of his third DP World Tour title.

Germany’s Yannik Paul sits alone in third on nine-under following a 68, with compatriot Marcel Schneider, Fabrizio Zanotti, Niall Kearney and Oliver Bekker all on eight-under. Zanotti’s 65 was the lowest score of the day and lifted the 38 year old from Paraguay 36 places up the leaderboard.

Dale Whitnell and Matti Schmid both dug deep to shoot 73 and remain in contention on seven-under par along with Paul Waring, Robin Roussel, Andy Sullivan, Chase Hanna and Jorge Campillo.

“I played really solid on the back to be honest,” said Fox. “I holed a couple putts as well and I hope I figured something out after a couple of scrappy drives early on in the round, and it felt pretty good form the tenth hole onwards. So, hopefully I can take that into tomorrow.

“I have been in contention the last couple of weeks after RAK,  but then not really done much on Sunday, so I am looking forward to being in the mix again. Obviously, Sam Horsfield is playing some good golf as well, and he is a heck of a player, so hopefully we will have a good tussle tomorrow.”

Horsfield himself added: “It will be fun. I know Foxy pretty well, he is a great dude so it’s going to be fun and really good to battle with him. There will definitely be some long drives and hopefully we will play well and have some fun.”

The post DP World Tour: Ras Al Khaimah champion Ryan Fox in pole positon in Belgium at Soudal Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Jay Coffin
Lev Grinberg, a 14-year-old who was born in Ukraine, spent time honing his game in Belgium and worked more in the United States over the last three years, followed up an opening round one-under 70 at the Soudal Open with a two-under 69 on Friday. In the process, he became the second youngest golfer to make a cut in a DP World Tour event.

Playing at Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp, Belgium, where Grinberg and his father, Illya, are members, as one of six tournament exemptions that go to amateurs, Grinberg is tied for 29th, five shots back of co-leaders Sam Horsfield, Dale Whitnell and Matti Schmid.

Grinberg made the cut by two strokes. The only player younger to make a cut at a DP World Tour event was China’s Guan Tianlang, who advanced to the weekend at the 2013 Masters when he was 14 years and 169 days old.

At 14 years, 6 months and 6 days old Ukrainian amateur Lev Grinberg becomes the second youngest player to make a cut on the Tour ?#SoudalOpen pic.twitter.com/7ZRJan9Bdn

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 13, 2022

“I played amazing,” Grinberg said. “I can’t wait to play tomorrow and Sunday. It’s so nice to play good and make the cut and my home course, and hopefully grind out as many birdies as I can and hopefully get top 10. That is my goal this weekend. It’s amazing because you play with friends from home and then you play with these guys who are top 50, top 10 in Europe, and it’s just nice.”

According to Grinberg’s website, he was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and started playing golf at age five at Kozyn Golf & Country Club. A few years later Lev would accompany his father on business trips to Belgium and he became more serious about his game, competing in national junior competitions there as early as age seven.

Grinberg’s game progressed more and eventually he spent winters in the United States, mostly in Florida. Lev and his father remained in the US during most of the COVID-19 pandemic and finally returned to Belgium late last year.

This is not the first time that Grinberg has made headlines. Last year, at only 13, he advanced to the final stage of US Open qualifying, looking to become the youngest to compete in a men’s major championship. He shot 74 in the first round at Dallas Athletic Club and had played five holes in his second round when weather suspended play. The round was not scheduled to resume until the following day, so Grinberg — paired with Scott Piercy and Kramer Hickok — withdrew and flew to Miami to play in his next junior event.

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The post 14-year-old Ukrainian amateur becomes second youngest golfer to make cut on DP World Tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
It was an English march at the Soudal Open in Belgium as Dale Whitnell, Sam Horsfield and Callum Shinkwin led the way after the first round.

They each fired opening 65s at Rinkven International Golf Club on Thursday morning, and with no-one able to catch them in the afternoon, they head into the second round one clear of the chasing pack.

It had looked as though Whitnell might prove impossible to catch on day one, after he notched nine birdies in his opening 16 holes, before a double bogey-bogey finish meant he had to settle for a 65.

Yannik Paul, Jeff Winther, Alexander Björk, Adrian Meronk and Spaniards Alvaro Quiros and Nacho Elvira finished day one in a tie for fourth on five-under.

A pair of amateurs were in the mix, too, with Charles Roeland firing a 69 and 14-year-old debutant Lev Grinberg shooting a 70 on his home course, while home favourite Thomas Pieters also opened with a 69.

“I played really nicely,” said Horsfield. “I kept the ball in play, this is a golf course where positioning is quite important off the tee and I was able to position it nicely to give myself a lot of good looks, and rolled in a few.

Whitnell added: “You can only take the positives really. I have been sort of feeling like the game has been getting there, I have struggled the last six weeks or so with a bit of form and swing changes, it has not been quite where I have wanted it to be, but the first 16 holes was flawless.

“I am making a few changes with Craig Lockwood, my coach, but it’s minimal and nothing massive. I missed the cut the last three weeks by three shots, two shots, one shot, and I was six-over par for 21 holes at The Belfry and got back to one-over, almost made the cut. I am trying to focus on the process rather than the outcome.”

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