The Swedish rookies Stark and Grant, ranked first and second on the LET Race respectively, are looking to add to a sensational first season on tour with a maiden major trophy at Evian Resort Club in France, while the Race itself is nip-and-tuck. Victory at the Evian is worth 675 points on the Race to Costa del Sol Rankings and there are only 292 points separating the pair. Fellow Swede Johanna Gustavsson is also in the mix as she has a mathematical chance of leapfrogging Stark with a win.

All three Swedes played in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort in late May, on the same golf course, albeit on a different set-up.

Linn Grant

Stark, who has won the Women’s New South Wales Open and the Amundi German Masters so far this year, said: “I’m excited about playing in a tournament again. I haven’t really thought about it as a different competition to any of the other LET events. It’s a bigger, stronger field, but I’ve played at the course before.

“I’ve had a good season and I’m always expecting the best from myself, hopefully being up there in contention and hoping that it’s enough, this week. I’m always aiming for the win. I haven’t been training a bunch at home on this week off, I just felt like I needed the time off to re-set my brain a bit. I’ve only practised when I felt like it and I think it’s been good for me.

“The shots are there and I know what to work on and what happens when I’m not hitting the ball very well. Last week was more about sustaining what I have and not practising anything new.

“The Jabra Ladies Open went well but I think the course is slightly different. It feels a bit longer than it was at the Jabra and the greens are softer now than they were then. The rough is a bit longer but for sure it’s nice to have played it before because it’s a very tricky course, both strategically and just knowing where to hit around the greens. In some places, you can end up with an almost impossible shot if you’re not careful, so it’s really good to have been here before and to have started to figure the course out and it’s nice that it was pretty recent that we played here.”

Grant, who has won the Joburg Ladies Open, the Belgian Ladies Open and the Scandinavian Mixed, where she became the first female winner on the DP World Tour in the co-sanctioned event with the LET, is also aiming high.

“I’m really looking forward to this week and the course looks amazing,” she said. “I’m super excited about going to test my game against the very best.

“I’ve only played in the British and US Opens, so it will be my first time at the Evian, which I am very excited about.

“I do have high expectations. I’ve played all right in the majors before and I like the major feeling. Courses are longer and tougher. The greens are faster so you need to have more patience with your game and I think that suits me, so I pretty much expect to play well.

This year’s field of 132 players includes past champions such as world No. 2 Minjee Lee (2021), No.1 Jin-Young Ko (2019); Angela Stanford (2018), Anna Nordqvist (2017), In Gee Chun (2016), Lydia Ko (2015) and Hyo Joo Kim (2014), as well as world No. 3 Nelly Korda and No. 5 Atthaya Thitikul.

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The post Amundi Evian Championship: Maja Stark and Linn Grant are major players in LET Race appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
The Ladies European Tour heads to Beroun in the Czech Republic, with Dubai-based Kristyna Napoleaova flying the flag for the host nation in a 130-strong field at the Czech Ladies Open.

The 54-hole event begins on Friday, with prize money of €200,000 on offer at Royal Beroun Golf Club.

Napoleaova is one of 16 Czech players in the field, and the 26-year-old has had a great start to life on the LET, sitting fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings, a T2 finish at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and T9 at the Joburg Ladies Open.

Another home favourite is Sara Kouskova, who won the 2021 Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge on the LET Access Series, and she turned professional a few weeks ago.

Among the big guns are three-time LET winner Meghan MacLaren from England, Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, who is third in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, and Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher, who sits fifth in the rankings.

Germany’s Leonie Harm finished third at the 2021 edition of the tournament, just two strokes behind winner Atthaya Thitikul. And the 24-year-old will be hoping to find that form once again and add to her one top-10 finish so far this season.

Wales’ Becky Brewerton is also competing after her T6 at the Aramco Team Series – London.

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Led by Sweden’s player Johanna Gustavsson, amateurs, Hanin Anbarsari, Raghda Al-Issawi and Laila Al-Telmisani took third place in the light-hearted competition, thanks to a combined score of 26-under.

“I enjoyed this a lot and had a wonderful day full of funny situations and wonderful moments,” Gustavsson said. “This is my first time participating in an all-women team in the Aramco ProAm. I’ve seen a lot of great kicks from Saudi female players, although there are some who started golfing a little while ago, which is amazing. I hope they learned a little bit from me and that the advice I gave them was helpful, and I look forward to seeing more Saudi women golfers.”

Anbarsari, a Golf Saudi team player, added: “The overall experience was very special, I really enjoyed it, the great atmosphere and playing alongside my team members. It’s great to be around new faces and build relationships in this field. I’ve been asking Johanna as many questions as possible to take advantage of this experience, her way of playing and her vision of the stadium is absolutely inspiring.”

Al-Issawi, who played alongside her 18-year-old daughter, Al-Telmisani, said: “The future of golf in the Kingdom is very promising, and there is nothing impossible where we can reach with hard work. I try to stay away from the mother’s role while we golf and play as friends on the course. We had a wonderful time and learned a lot of things that will help us in the future.”

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The post Saudi women celebrate podium spot in Aramco Team Series — London ProAm appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.