Jessica Karlsson Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Ladies European Tour: Ciganda and Karlsson on top at Estrella Damm Ladies Open

Matt Smith — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 11:14:06 +0000

By Matt Smith
Spanish star Carlota Ciganda and last week’s Ladies European Tour runner-up Jessica Karlsson set the pace with a pair of seven-under 65s on the opening day of the Estrella Damm Ladies Open in Sitges.

Both players made strong starts in hot and breezy conditions at Club de Golf Terramar to lead by three strokes over six other players.

Ciganda, from the city of Pamplona, where the Running of the Bulls resumed for the first time since 2019 on Thursday as part of the San Fermín Festival, won this tournament three years ago and the Spaniard will be looking to make a similar charge over the next three days in front of her home gallery.

She birdied her first three holes, the 11th, 12th and 13th, on Thursday morning, before picking up another birdie on the long 16th hole. After carding a pair of bogeys in the middle of her round, she recovered a stroke at the third and then finished with four birdies in her last five holes to lay down the marker.

“A birdie-birdie finish always feels good,” said the Solheim Cup star, who won the tournament at the same venue in 2019.

“I’m very happy. I love being in Spain. I love Sitges and it is just a comfortable atmosphere. I have my family here, so once I’m done, I don’t really think much about golf. I can have a good time and eat good food and I enjoy that. It’s always nice to come back to Europe, play in Spain and have a good time.”

Jessica Karlsson in action at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open. LET

Karlsson also started from the 11th and quickly eagled the 12th, where she hit her driver from the tee and then used a hybrid to hit her ball to within two metres of the flag before rolling in the putt. The Swede bogeyed the 15th, but then birdied the 18th.

She holed long birdie putts on the second and third holes, from 15 and 20 metres respectively, before picking up further shots at the fourth, sixth and eighth holes.

“I holed a lot of long putts today,” said Karlsson, who opened last week’s Amundi German Masters with a 63 and held the lead for three rounds, before dropping shots at the last two holes to lose by a stroke to Maja Stark.

“It’s a nice feeling to know that I can score low. I’ve been a little disappointed for the last couple of days, but I’ve tried to forget that and focus on this week.”

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Stark clinches fourth LET title with victory at Amundi German Masters

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 17:18:39 +0000

Tristan Jones / LET

By GolfDigestME.com
Sweden’s Maja Stark sealed a fourth title on the Ladies European Tour (LET) winning the Amundi German Masters by one stroke.

After beginning the final round in second place, the 22-year-old didn’t get off to the best of starts at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See with a bogey on the first.

But Stark soon made up for it with birdies on two and eight, before dropping another shot on the ninth to make the turn in even-par.

It was down the final stretch where the Swede impressed sinking a birdie on the 17th before leaving her second shot on 18 just millimetres short for a tap-in birdie to triumph on 15-under-par.

“I was so nervous on 18 because I thought I had no chance of winning it after I messed up on 16 and I thought what am I doing? I won’t have anything to do with this and then I finally made a putt on 17,” said Stark.

“I could barely feel my hands on the 18th tee box, but I thought just go and I had a good drive and there was nothing to lose really. It has been a frustrating round for sure, I don’t think I’ve ever hit a putt like this and I’m happy it’s over.”

Stark carded rounds of 68 (-4), 68 (-4) and 67 (-5) on the first three days to put herself in contention and had local caddie Leon alongside her for the final round.

She added: “My caddie was really good! He is 15 years old. He has a 0.6 handicap, he is from here and he was perfect. He didn’t nothing wrong all day, I’m super impressed.”

Maja Stark with an incredible birdie finish to win the #AmundiGermanMasters ??
#RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/7LjvatrKn3

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) July 3, 2022

Germany’s Leonie Harm and Sweden’s Jessica Karlsson finished in a tie for second place one shot behind the winner on 14-under-par.

Karlsson, who had led from the front, had a great start to her final day rolling in birdies on the first, fourth and eighth holes to put herself in pole position.

Bogeys on 10 and 12 brought the Swede back to the pack, but she extended her lead with a birdie on the 13th before two bogeys in her final two holes meant she finished in second place – her best-ever result on the LET.

While Harm finished as the leading German carding a bogey-free final round of 68 (-4) to equal her best-ever result on Tour.

“Maja is a fantastic player, so when she is on it, I guess we all just have to watch and learn,” said Harm. “I’m proud of my own round too because in the warm-up that wasn’t quite guaranteed. I wasn’t hitting great shots warming up and I spoke to my caddie and said today is going to be a grind.

“Then suddenly, I was sticking them close and making very few mistakes into the greens which meant I kept my scorecard pretty clean, and I could take advantage of the chances I had.

“I was just trying to play my personal best shot for shot and enjoy the moment of playing well in front of German crowds which was really cool. It’s great that we get inspired by our home crowds supporting us and that’s great for women’s golf.”

Four players finished in a share of fourth place on 13-under-par with German duo Polly Mack – whole holed her second shot on 18 – and Olivia Cowan alongside Sweden’s Linn Grant and Scotland’s Laura Beveridge.

Polly Mack finishes her first LET event in style ???? #RaiseOurGame | #AmundiGermanMasters pic.twitter.com/5G18QKIHxs

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) July 3, 2022

Two-time LET winner Esther Henseleit ended the tournament in T8 on 12-under-par with Morocco’s Ines Laklalech, after the duo produced rounds of 67 and 68 respectively, and Czechia’s Klara Spilkova rounded out the top 10 on nine-under-par.

In the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Stark has overtaken compatriot and friend Grant and leads the standings once again with 2,252.50 points.

Grant is second with 2,105.64 and Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson completes the top three with 1,755.33 points while the rest of the top 10 stays the same as before.

Harm now sits in 12th place with 774.44 points while Karlsson has moved up to 41st.

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WATCH: Highlights from the Amundi German Masters on the Ladies European Tour

Matt Smith — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 11:00:49 +0000

By Matt Smith
Catch up with all the latest from the weather-delayed German Masters as Jessica Karlsson holds the lead going into the third round.

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Jessica Karlsson holds on to lead at Ladies European Tour German Masters

Matt Smith — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 10:56:03 +0000

Jessica Karlsson. LET

By Matt Smith
Jessica Karlsson maintained her fine form with a second-round 68 to take a four-stroke lead into the weekend at the Amundi German Masters.

The 29-year-old completed her round on Saturday morning due to a three-hour delay on Friday due to severe weather.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS BELOW

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Karlsson began Friday with a three-shot lead at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See after a bogey-free first day and made an excellent start with four bridies and two bogeys on her front nine.

The Swede dropped a shot on the 10^th but soon made back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 and rolled in another birdie on Saturday morning to reach a total of 13-under-par.

“Yesterday I was a bit tired, it was a long day. I played well, and made some birdies and bogeys, we had better weather today and it was a nice morning to get out and play,” said Karlsson.

“It is so much fun with Pontus and he is really helping me out this week. The conditions are nice, I wasn’t sure because of the rain yesterday but it’s better than I thought it would be.”

England’s Hayley Davis sits in second place on nine-under-par having carded a second round of 67 (-5) which included six birdies and one bogey.

“It was a late start yesterday, I played well and managed to get 13 holes done before finishing this morning,” said Davis.

“It was good this morning, I hit some good shots and made three birdies in five holes. I have been working quite hard and I got a new putting coach a few months ago, so I’ve been concentrating on that and simple swing thoughts trying to be steady and consistent.”

Swedish duo Linn Grant and Maja Stark, who sit first and second in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, are in a share of third place on eight-under-par having both signed for rounds of 68 (-4).

“It was nice to go out in the morning with it being early and there was no wind, it was pretty soft. You could actually hit it at the pin,” said three-time LET winner Grant.

Stark added: “It was nice to play and be alongside Linn these past two days. It was good, the greens were rolling really good, and it wasn’t that wet at all.”

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Ladies European Tour: Jessica Karlsson leads the way at German Masters

Matt Smith — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 08:50:49 +0000

Jessica Karlsson. LET

By Matt Smith
Sweden’s Jessica Karlsson fired an opening round of 63 on the first day of the Amundi German Masters at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See.

The 29-year-old, who began her round from the 10th tee, carded a bogey-free day with six birdies in her first nine holes and three more in her final five holes.

After producing her career-best round on the LET to hold the lead on nine-under, Karlsson is enjoying the week in Germany so far.

“It was one of those days where everything went right,” said the Swede, who has her boyfriend Pontus Lundqvist on the bag. “I hit a lot of fairways, I hit 17 greens and from there I holed some great putts, so everything was with me today.

“I think there were some nice pin positions today, that you could really attack. I have played well in the last couple of events, but I was just not holing putts, so I was waiting for that to happen and today it did.

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“It was so much fun with Pontus on the bag, I’m having fun on the course with him! It is true that he has a back injury, but he is using the trolley this week.”

Five players are in a share of second place three shots back on six-under-par including German duo Leonie Harm and Esther Henseleit.

It was an excellent start for Harm who began her day with three birdies and one eagle on the front nine to make the turn in 31 (-5).

And despite a dropped shot on the 15th, the German rolled in back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to reach six-under.

“I got off to a really good start,” said the 24-year-old. “My front nine was pretty nice and everything worked out well, I started struggling a little bit on the back.

“I’m really proud of myself that I got it back coming in with two birdies on 16 and 17 to get it back to a relatively low round. I’m happy with that.”

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Fassi, Karlsson co-lead as Dubai Moonlight Classic set for cliffhanger conclusion

Kent Gray — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 19:57:16 +0000

Tristan Jones
Maria Fassi launches her tee shot on the 18th

By Kent Gray
Maria Fassi is glad she still has a “target on her back” but isn’t half as relieved as Jessica Karlsson who is starting to believe she won’t have to rush back to school teaching anytime soon.

The Mexican LPGA Tour player and the sometimes math and science teacher from Sweden will begin the final round of the 15th Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA in joint pole-position on Friday, albeit with their noses just ahead of a tightly bunched grid all plotting early overtaking manoeuvres.

Thailand’s highly decorated Jutanugarn sisters Ariya and Moriya and Spaniard Nuria Iturrioz, the 2018 champion here, are among 11 players within four shots heading into the final round of the 260,000 Ladies European Tour event on The Faldo.

MORE: Friday’s Dubai Moonlight Classic Daily News is FREE here

After a course-record equalling 63 in Wednesday’s opening round, Fassi emerged from a frustrating Thursday just one stroke better to par, a 71 getting her to -10. Karlsson, meanwhile, added a 68 to her opening 66 to surprisingly find herself co-leader.

“I didn’t know I was tied for the lead! The photographer told me when I was walking in from the last hole. That’s good news,” Karlsson said.

Jessica Karlsson
(Photo Tristan Jones)

So too is Karlsson’s welcome return to form after her return to the game via the COVID-19 didn’t quite go to plan.

“It was a little bit tough at the start of the year. I played some really bad golf because it had been one-and-a-half years since I had played tournament golf. I was a maths and science teacher last autumn, which was really good.

“It was hard to readjust. I have had a lot of time with my mental coach, and he has really helped me with that part of my game and my readjustment.

“I’m just going to enjoy it and have fun. I have my brother on the bag, so I’m just going to have a lot of fun!”

Afyer the fireworks of Wednesday, Fassi just simply pleased to get it into the clubhouse without any damaged done.

“It was a bit of a struggle out there today; I couldn’t get anything going and had to save pars every three or four holes so it was hard to build momentum that I had yesterday.

“[But] I went out with a target on my back today and I still have it at the end of the day so that’s good, and hopefully some more putts drop tomorrow.

“I hit it splendid yesterday and it was average today, and I couldn’t get the few opportunities I had for birdie to go in, so if I clean up with the irons and get a couple more putts to drop, I’ll be in good shape tomorrow.”

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Lee-Anne Pace, a 10-time LET winner, is the closest challenger despite near cart-path calamity

Kent Gray — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 19:56:51 +0000

By Kent Gray
It won’t be lost on co-leaders Maria Fassi and Jessica Karlsson that the player closest to them leaderboard is the owner of 10 Ladies European Tour titles, and another on the LPGA Tour.

Lee-Anne Pace is delighted to be so close after a topsy-turvy second round at the Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA.

The 40-year-old South African watched a six-foot birdie putt slide by on the 18th and with it a chance to make it a three-way lead at -10 on Thursday. But Pace’s eventual 71 could have been worse, especially after a run-in with a cart path on the 16th which sent a chip scuttling deeper into the undergrowth.

“It was entertaining, up and down, and pretty much all over the show,” Pace said of her second round where she mixed five birdies with four bogeys.

“I started a bit cold with the putter but then it got hot in the middle, then I hit it in the bush and nearly hit my head, so it was a bit all over the place, but one-under at the end of the day means I still have a chance.

MORE: Friday’s Dubai Moonlight Classic Daily News is FREE here

“My caddie really helped me out there because I wanted to play it into the bunker which could easily have been a seven, and he pointed in the other direction and we made an up and down [bogey six], so that was a great call.”

Pace secured her 10th LET title at the SA Open in May and is happy to be plying her trade in “Europe” after an LPGA Tour focus in recent years.

“I’m happy, I’m happy in my life and I’m happy in my golf so I’m really enjoying it, it’s great to be back in Europe and really nice to be around my friends.

“I’m going to play the same game [on Friday] and try to get into the lead, and if not, try to chase the lead.”

Fassi and Karlsson can’t say they haven’t been warned.

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