The wonderful Dromoland Castle layout is set to welcome the Ladies European Tour this week as the KPMG Women’s Irish Open returns to the famous venue after a dramatic return to the schedule last year.

Dromoland is once again hosting the event after Klara Spilkova won a playoff over Ursula Wikstrom Nicole Broch Estrup last time out, and there will be 126 players from 28 nations teeing it up from Thursday as they chase the €400,000 prize fund.

RELATED: Spilkova holds her nerve
Ireland is treasure island

Czech star Spilkova sits sixth in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol having recorded five top-10 results so far this season.

While runners-up Wikstrom and Broch Estrup also return to the venue where they played so well last year and will be hoping to go one better.

Ireland’s Solheim Cup hero Leona Maguire is the best-ranked player in the field this week as she is number 14 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

The home favourite, who hails from Cavan, finished in a tie for fourth place at last year’s edition after rounds of 67-75-65-68.

England’s Gabriella Cowley who comes into this tournament off the back of a T2 finish at the ISPS Handa World Invitational where she was defeated in a playoff.

Winners from this year on the LET playing this week are Diksha Dagar, Kristyna Napoleaova, Lisa Pettersson, Patricia Isabel Schmidt and Lily May Humphreys.

The post Roll on Dromoland: Next stop Ireland for the Ladies European Tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
There was a surprise winner at the Czech Ladies Open as amateur Jana Melichova swept the pros aside to claim top spot in her home competition at Royal Beroun Golf Club.

After rounds of 68 and 65 on the first two days, the 24-year-old produced a final round of 69 to seal a one-stroke victory.

[parone_video_player campaign=”284″ defaultlang=”en” feed=”51-all-videos”/]

The former Old Dominion University student shot a blistering front nine on Sunday to open up a four-shot lead. But Melichova had some trouble just a few holes later carding three consecutive bogeys.

However, another birdie on 17 proved to be crucial as she reached a total of 14-under to become the second Czech winner on the LET.

“It’s a dream come true,” Melichova began. “I always planned to play LET and I always wanted to win a title and I succeeded today, I’m incredibly happy.

“I was mainly nervous, but I think I handled that stress really well. I was really happy with my game and everything was perfect. Even the three bogeys in a row didn’t get me down because I had people here and they were cheering for me, so I just wanted to make more birdies.

“I seemed calm but it’s tough out there, there were so many thoughts going through my mind so it’s hard to stay calm and patient.

“My dad likes to plant a lot of fruit and vegetables, and today he brought strawberries with me so after every birdie I was rewarded.”

The final standings of the 2022 #CzechLadiesOpen ?

A magical win for Jana Melichova, as well as career-best finishes on the LET for @lauuragr and Elena Hualde ?#RaiseOurGame

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) June 26, 2022

Two players finished in a tie for second place with Czechia’s Klara Spilkova and Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup on 13-under.

It was a great finish to the week for Spilkova, who became the first Czech winner on the LET back in 2017.

Spilkova carded a final 70 (-2) which included four birdies and two bogeys to be runner-up alongside Broch Estrup.

“I feel a bit up and down, but I feel very happy and grateful for what I have done and how it all unfolded for me this week,” Spilkova said.

“It was really nice to play in front of the home crowd, there have been a lot of people everyday so I really appreciate their support. There was a lot of good energy through the week.

“I was pleased with how I stayed patient and believed in myself, I stayed solid and today I wish I made more putts but it is how it is, and that’s golf.

“It’s an amazing thing Jana has done today, she should enjoy the moment because this doesn’t happen very often. I’ve been on tour for 12 years and for her to be in a situation like this is very magical.”

??????? ?????????

The moment Jana Melichova wins the #CzechLadiesOpen in front of her home crowd ?

What a special moment for the 24-year-old ? #RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/i9Qr6uRWkn

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) June 26, 2022

Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson continued her excellent form this season with a fourth-place finish after a final round of 66 (-6).

Despite bogeys on the second and sixth holes, the Swede soon rolled in three birdies consecutively on holes seven through to nine and added a further five birdies on the back nine.

“Today I had a bit of a rocky start,” Gustavsson admitted. “I had a few bogeys early on and I wasn’t happy about that. Then I started playing better and hit a few lovely shots close to the pin and had a lot of tap ins for birdie on the back nine, so that was nice.

“I feel good, I’m looking forward to playing in the Majors soon and my game feels good now.

“My dad was with me on the bag this week so that was great to have him here with me, it’s also nice to have Emma (Nilsson) here as well because I haven’t seen her much this year.

“I felt very good about my putting this week, which has been a bit of a thing for me this year – so the was good.

“It’s nice to get some more points on the Race to Costa Del Sol and to close the gap at the top a bit as well, that’s a bonus. It’s great to see so many Swedes up there as well.”

In the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Swedes Linn Grant and Maja Stark are still first and second in the rankings with 1,969.39 and 1,752.50 points, respectively.

While Gustavsson remains third but has closed the gap to the top and now has 1,687.83 points to her name.

Belgium’s Manon De Roey, Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher and England’s Meghan MacLaren are still fourth, fifth and sixth.

South African Lee-Anne Pace sits seventh, with Finland’s Tiia Koivisto eighth, Australian Whitney Hillier in ninth and England’s Georgia Hall completes the top 10.

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The post Amateur Jana Melichova claims stunning win on Ladies European Tour at Czech Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
It’s rare to see a slow-play penalty on either the LPGA Tour or the PGA Tour, especially during a major. But after the 15th hole, Klara Spilkova was assessed a two-stroke penalty for not adhering to the pace of play policy at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The 25-year-old from Czechoslovakia, who played in the Olympics in 2016, finished the first two rounds at seven over with the penalty. Unfortunately for her, with three players ahead of her on the leader board yet to finish their rounds, the cut line is at six over. The two-stroke penalty has likely cost her a place in the major championship weekend.

The penalty comes two months after Stacy Lewis was critical of the pace of play at the Ladies Scottish Open, where she, Azahara Munoz and Jennifer Song took five hours, 16 minutes to finish their last round. At the time Lewis said, “I do think an effort needs to be made across the board to play faster, because obviously I wasn’t watching it on TV, but I’m sure it couldn’t have been fun to watch on TV.”

Though the costly penalty is certainly a tough one for Spilkova, issuing a penalty at a major suggests that pace of play is being taken seriously, possibly meaning faster rounds, as Lewis and others want.

The post Pace of play penalty assesed at KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, likely costing Klara Spilkova a place in the weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With a swing speed three miles faster than the average PGA Tour player (116mph compared to 113mph) and an eye-popping competition best hit of 402 yards, long drive champion Troy Mullins is sure to be a huge drawcard in more ways than one at the Ladies European Tour’s (LET) $500,000 season-ender from Dec. 6-9.

At least that’s what Tournament Director David Spencer is banking on after granting the Californian her 72-hole pro event debut at Emirates Golf Club.

Spencer took plenty of heat for handing Paige Spiranac her pro debut at the then Dubai Ladies Masters in 2015 and repeating the sponsors’ invite visit last season. He unashamedly admits the social media audience that accompanies Spiranac everywhere was a key driver behind the decision, to the point where the American is returning to the emirate as official starter for the men at January’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Related: On the tee…Paige Spiranac

The key driver behind Mullins’ invite is the one the 5ft 8in American wields, and rather impressively so as this tweet highlights:

She did it!

Troy Mullins is the #MileHighShowdown Women’s Champion! #WorldLongDrive pic.twitter.com/TfM5OpFt7Y

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 26, 2017

Nicknamed the Trojan Goddess, Mullins only took up the game after attending Ivy League Cornell University when a hamstring injury curtailed her promising heptathlon career. Now she has genuine LPGA Tour ambitions.

Mullins won the 2017 Mile High Showdown, a World Long Drive event, in July with a 374 yard drive in the final and has a swing so sweet it has some of the game’s most critical analysts swooning, including Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Spencer is excited about what Mullins, who speaks four languages including Chinese, Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL), brings to the tournament. She will hold a clinic for spectators after play in the second round on Friday, Dec. 7.

“Troy caught our eye…we’ll we only started following long drive golf because she was on the Golf Channel and was being touted as having a perfect swing,” said Spencer.

“She’ll certainly be the longest player in the field but she’s also an accomplished golfer. We’ll she just how accomplished she is when she comes up against a professional field.”

Key Omega Dubai Ladies Classic signings (from top left clockwise): I.K. Kim, Susana Benavides, Klara Spilkova and Troy Mullins.

As well as unveiling Kim and Mullins, a new name to bring the LET event “into the ‘classic’ family”, and a “sister” trophy to match the Dallah (Arabic coffee pot) handed to Desert Classic men’s champion, Spencer also revealed 16 other name players.

They include Kim’s fellow LPGA players Suzanne Pettersen, Brittany Lincicome, Olafia Kristinsdottir, Mel Reid and reigning Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open champion Beth Allen.

Aditi Ashok, who sealed LET Rookie-of-the-Year honours with a share of third place at Emirates G.C. last December, also returns along with Rafa Cabrera Bello’s sister Emma, Dame Laura Davies, Amy Boulden, Carly Booth, Felicity Johnson, Olivia Cowan and Moroccan trailblazer Maha Haddioui.

New names include Kristinsdottir and Susana Benavides while Czech Olympian Klára Spilková returns.

Benavides is the only Bolivian-born golfer to ever play in an LPGA event and like Spiranac, will bring a strong social media audience with her to Dubai.

Being away from social media made me wanna come back ??er… #poorgreens #highheels #shooting #lpgadresscode #not

A post shared by Susana Benavides (@mumita_b) on Aug 29, 2017 at 6:41pm PDT

Spilková became the first Czech player to win a Ladies European Tour event with a one stroke victory over Pettersen at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in April.

Photo courtesy LET
Klara Spilkova

Kristinsdottir brought forward double jaw surgery, a procedure that reportedly involved the addition of titanium plates to her nose and screws to her jaw, to correct an underbite just before becoming the first Icelander to play on the LPGA Tour. She is currently 82nd in the CME Rankings with one top-10 in her rookie year, a fourth placing at the Indy Women in Tech Championship Presented by Guggenheim.

Photo courtesy LPGA Tour Olafia Kristinsdottir

I.K. Kim, the highest ranked player in the field at No.8 in the latest Rolex Ranking, banished the haunting memory of missing a 14-inch putt to win the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship when he won the Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns

Related: In-Kyung Kim gets her major redemption with two-shot Women’s British Open victory

Englishwoman Sophie Lamb, who closed with a 69 at Kingsbarns to win low amateur honours, will is also a confirmed Majlis starter along with the 29-year-old South Korean.

The post Troy Mullins set to rip it past major champion I.K. Kim and co. in rebranded Omega Dubai Ladies “Classic” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.