Liz Young Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Defending champ Liz Young ready to scale the heights in Switzerland again

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 11:26:30 +0000

Liz Young with ‘Daisy’ the Cow. LET

This time last year, veteran Liz Young finally scaled the heights and claimed her maiden Ladies European Tour title at the Swiss Ladies Open after 14 years.

It certainly wasn’t easy for England’s Young as she had to hold off the chasing Linn Grant — no mean feat — to claim the famous wooden cow and finally join the LET winners’ circle.

Now back in Switzerland to defend her crown, Young couldn’t be more excited as she returns to Golfpark Holzhäusern, a setting which holds special memories.

“It’s a bit surreal,” the 40-year-old told the LET website. “But it’s definitely a good feeling. It’s nice to come back to the home of your first LET win which was obviously a great experience. I’m really excited to get going.

“It was massive for my confidence. I knew at the end of last year, in August, my golf was really the best it’s ever been. Honestly it’s kept getting better, but I just haven’t had the results this year.”

Having come so close on so many occasions throughout her career, the Englishwoman fired a final round 69 at Golfpark Holzhäusern to finish the job in confident fashion after holding the 36-hole lead.

“It was one those weeks where everything just clicked,” Young continues. “I never felt that I was going to win it, even when I was leading going into the last round. When Linn Grant is in the field you’ve always got to be worried about her!

“I just played my own golf and I remember that putt on the last, I left it a bit short and then had a four- or five-footer for the win. When it went in everyone came rushing on to the green and I was: ‘Oh my god, I’ve won!’”

There was ????? ????? for Liz Young last time out as the Englishwoman captured her long-awaited maiden LET title ?#RaiseOurGame | #SwissLadiesOpen pic.twitter.com/hGZXAm68vT

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) September 13, 2023

Joining the winners’ circle in her 14th year on Tour, a tenure which saw her sit on the LET Player’s Council and help kickstart the Rose Ladies Series, mother-of-one Young was rewarded with the unmistakable Swiss Ladies Open trophy — the wooden cow which remains proudly in her living room.

“It’s still on the mantlepiece,” Young says. “My daughter gave it a horse for company, a little statue horse so it had a friend. She named it Daisy the Cow and it currently has a beautiful painted dinosaur by her for company. My husband has said the dinosaur has to stay until it gets a friend like another cow, so the pressure is on this week.”

Defending this week for the first time in her career, Young arrives back at Golfpark Holzhäusern ranked 60th in the Race to Costa del Sol and off the back of a T25 finish at last week’s Big Green Egg Open.

But with Young insisting she is swinging the club as well as she ever has, the Englishwoman remains confident heading into this week at a course she knows all too well.

“My swing technically is better than it was last year, it’s just a case of putting it all together,” she explains. “It’s been a mixed bag this year. One week the putter is good and I’m shooting those five- and six-unders, and the next day it’s like I’ve got a frying pan at the end of my hand and I’ve got no control. I know it’s in there and I know my swing is good enough.

“It feels good to be back and I can’t wait to tee it up on Friday,” she added. “That will be a nice experience being defending champion. First time for that. I definitely feel like I’ve got a chance and I know that it’s there, it’s just doing it for three rounds, that’s what’s needed.

“I like these greens and I love this golf course so I’m really excited to get going. You have to be accurate here which is fine by me. These courses where you have to think off the tee are the ones I like.”

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Aramco Team Series: Experience tells on opening day in Singapore as Young and Garcia shine in the sun

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 10:53:54 +0000

Nicole Garcia. ATS/Oisin Keniry

Veteran Liz Young led her team in fine fashion on the opening day of the first Aramco Team Series event of the year in Singapore, shooting a three-under 69 to help her team finish on 16-under and take the outright lead.

Young’s quartet was made up of England’s Gabriella Cowley, France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora and amateur 4-handicapper Elaine Widjaja and they finished one shot clear of Team Christine Wolf, Team Caroline Hedwall and Team Nicole Broch Estrup.

In blistering hot conditions, experienced South African Nicole Garcia, who has already clinched a team title in London last year, shot an excellent 67 to lead the way in the individual competition. It could have been even better for Garcia, but she finished with back-to-back bogeys on her eighth and ninth holes respectively.

Five players sit just one shot back on four-under in a tie for second, including Eleanor Givens, Klara Davidson Spilkova, Pauline Roussin and Swedish star Linn Grant.

Young, who secured her maiden LET victory at the 2022 Swiss Ladies Open, a month before her 40th birthday, was delighted with her team’s start. “We really took advantage of the par 5s which made a massive difference today,” she said. “I made a couple of eagles and Gabs made one and our amateur also made one which definitely helped on a couple of the holes.

“Elaine was on fire on the greens today. She is from Indonesia, so I guess she’s used to the grainy greens. She played fantastic and helped the team a lot. We are going to need lots of good shots, I think teams are probably going to get to 30-under so let’s see how we go. There is a lot of good teams right behind us.”

Lydia Ko had an up-and-down day in Singapore. ATS/Oisin Keniry

Teammate Cowley echoed the sentiments of her compatriot adding: “It was so nice to play with Liz and the team today. I’ve played with Liz a few times but it was so fun out there. The whole team atmosphere is always good and it’s always nice to play great golf courses.”

Wolf, who is also tied second in the individual competition to mirror her team’s position, was satisfied with her days work and said: “I played really well today. I just hit them close and made some putts. It was nice.

“We had a really good atmosphere between the team, so it was really nice playing out there. It’s been great to be in Singapore for the first time, really enjoying it and looking forward to the rest of the week.”

World No. 1 Lydia Ko had an up-and-down day, finishing with a level-par 72, while fellow American Danielle Kang fared better with a three-under 69 to sit well placed in a tie for seventh.

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Liz Young claims maiden Ladies European Tour title in Switzerland

Matt Smith — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 06:04:08 +0000

By Matt Smith
At the age of 39, Liz Young finally claimed her first title on the Ladies European Tour thanks to a final round of 69 at the Swiss Ladies Open.

The second round was completed early on Saturday morning with Young holding a one-shot lead heading into the final round.

Despite a bogey on the first, Young bounced back with birdies on the third and seventh holes to put her firmly in contention before she got a stroke of luck on the 10th to save par.

Two further birdies on 11 and 14 gave the 39-year-old a two-shot lead with four holes to play and a par on the last was enough for her to seal victory on 12-under.

“I can’t believe it right now. I’ve been out here a while and haven’t had the win yet, so to do it here in Switzerland is just fantastic,” she said.

“On the 10th, I hit a good drive off the tee, and it just ran through the fairway into the rough so I couldn’t lift, clean and place and there was a big chunk of mud on the ball. I thought I had got to go for it, it was only a hybrid in my hand and unfortunately the mud curved it millimetres from out of bounds, so I salvaged the par from that and then hit a nice shot on 11 to get the birdie there instead.

“I tried to keep in the moment, I didn’t look at scoreboards and I asked Christine [Wolf] — my friend — on 18 what the situation was because I wanted to keep in the moment and play every shot as best as I can, and we would see what happen.”

In her 14th season on Tour, Young has had a solid 2022 with two top-10s and two further top-15 finishes, and she knew her game was trending in the right direction.

“I did feel it coming, I knew my game was good,” she continued. “In Sotogrande (at the Aramco Team Series) I didn’t play well, and I was burnt out, I took two weeks off which I needed and got my game back in shape. I knew my game was coming together and I was getting better and better – that’s why I’m still out here.

“I said I’d keep playing as long as I enjoy it and as long as I keep getting better — 14 years later we’re here. I hope my daughter is watching. I have been out here a while and never really been close to the win, but I’ve had some good results in strong field events. To finally get across the line is… yeah.”

.@lizyounggolf is the #VPBankSwissLadiesOpen champion & an LET winner. Let the celebrations begin ???#RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/fEjP1cUInt

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) September 10, 2022

Four-time LET winner Linn Grant finished second at Golfpark Holzhausern in second place after a final round of 69 took her to 11-under.

The Swedish star started strong with birdies on three and five but then dropped shots on eight and 14 to put her back to level-par for the day.

However, the 23-year-old rallied towards the end of her round with three consecutive birdies on 15, 16 and 17 but was unable to find another on the last and finished with a total of 11-under-par.

“I feel like I was so grumpy the whole day, I did what I was supposed to do,” Grant said. “I didn’t quite get close to the pins and whenever I had a short putt it was just past and close to the hole.

“I’m happy for Liz and I’m OK with not making a birdie on the last hole. I think that going out and shooting seven-under with no preparation, I went out with a very chilled feeling, and I think I tried too hard the second day and I tried too hard today.”

After her second-place finish, Grant now overtakes compatriot Maja Stark in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol and sits at the top of the rankings. She added: “We’ll see if Maja manages to come back, or I’ll see her at the LET finale.”

England’s Rosie Davies ended the tournament on 10-under-par in third place — her best-ever result on the LET — after a final round of 70.

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