Ladies European Tour: Swede dreams as Linn Grant claims Skafto Open to slash Stark’s lead in season race

Matt Smith — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 08:58:40 +0000

By Matt Smith
As if becoming the first female to win a DP World Tour event wasn’t enough, Sweden’s Linn Grant bagged her fourth Ladies European Tour title of the season with back-to-back birdies on her final two holes at the Skafto Open title.

The Scandinavian Mixed champion turned on the style in front of her home crowd once again on the Swedish West Coast, as she pulled some magnificent shots out the bag on the final stretch to see off compatriot Lisa Pettersson by a single shot.

It was something of an up-and-down day for Grant, with two three-putts on the 11th and 15th to see her give the chasing pack some hope, but she kept her cool to ease herded back to the top as the round drew to a close.

The 23-year-old had a two shot lead at the turn before dropping those shots, and she was delighted to finally get over the line at the end.

“It was exhausting, it was a roller-coaster today, I felt I started off a bit shaky. I missed some birdies on the par fives but then got myself on a good setup after nine,” she said.

“I did some bad three putts then finished off with two birdies, so it was a very up and down day.

“My short game was both really good and really bad today, I managed to hit some really bad ones first then saved them up for the end when I nearly holed two or three.”

As is ever the case when Grant runs out victorious in an LET event, she was in a share of the lead heading into the final day, with Ana Peláez Trevino for company on nine-under before the action got under way.

But after a dropped shot on the second there were a number of competitors for top spot, with as many as five players tied for the lead at one point in the afternoon, before birdies on seven and eight put the Swede back into the ascendency.

But the double-bogey on 11 soon saw the field pull back into contention, as the home favourite looked to be playing herself into trouble.

A birdie and bogey on 14 and 15 respectively saw her head into the last three holes a shot behind clubhouse leader Lisa Pettersson, who proved her decision to focus on European golf to be the correct one as she ended on nine-under for the week.

But as the adage goes: form is temporary and class is permanent, and Grant proved that after a tremendous tee shot on the 17th to give herself a short putt for birdie to also bring herself to nine-under, before saving the best until last on the 18th.

Grant was in the sand, but got out to inches from the hole to leave herself the simple task of rolling in a deciding birdie.

And after such a nail-biting final day, Grant was delighted to put on a show for the home fans who turned out to watch this afternoon.

“Just like the Scandinavian Mixed it’s always good to win at home and I always really enjoy playing here, it really reminds me of playing amateur golf.”

Maja Stark and Becky Morgan both produced rounds of 65 to move themselves into a share of third on eight-under overall on Sunday, as they finished alongside England’s Alice Hewson who shot 67 in her final 18 holes.

Five players finished on eight-under, with Jessica Karlsson making it four Swedes within two shots of victory after a final day 67, while Elina Nummenpaa went round in level-par to achieve her highest ever finish on the LET.

In the Race to Costa Del Sol, Stark retains her lead at the top of the standings, but her lead was cut to just 158.73 points, with Grant’s victory keeping things very interesting as we reach the climax of the 2022 season.

The post Ladies European Tour: Swede dreams as Linn Grant claims Skafto Open to slash Stark’s lead in season race appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ladies European Tour race is on for Swedish stars at Skafto Open

Matt Smith — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 12:13:31 +0000

Linn Grant (Photo by Tristan Jones/LET)

By Matt Smith
The Ladies European Tour Skafto Open takes on more significance than usual this week as two local players will be fighting on two fronts.

Set in Fiskebäckskil area on Sweden’s west coast at Skafto Golf Club, the $250,000 event sees the two leading lights in this season’s LET Race to Costa Del Sol vying for victory on home soil.

France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard will be out to defend the crown she won 12 months ago for her maiden LET title, but a lot of the talk amid a stellar field will centre on Sweden’s own Maja Stark, the Race leader, and Linn Grant, her nearest challenger.

The Swedish West Coast ?#RaiseOurGame | #skaftopen

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 23, 2022

Both Stark and Grant made their LET debuts on this course last year, with Grant finishing in a tie for second, one stroke behind Roussin-Bouchard alongside Magdalena Simmermacher.

Simmermacher will be back and ready to challenge at the top of the leaderboard once again this week, with the Argentine still searching for her first win on tour, while Lee-Anne Pace, Ana Peláez Trevino and Meghan Maclaren will also be teeing it up. Lydia Hall and Whitney Hillier both finished in the top 10 around this track last year, and both will be ready to compete once again, with Hillier looking to maintain her place in the top 10 of the Race to Costa Del Sol rankings.

As well as Grant and Stark, there will be a raft of Swedes looking to impress on home soil this week, with six-time LET winner Caroline Hedwall among those in the field, as well as Jessica Karlsson, Camilla Lennarth, Linda Wessberg and Lina Boqvist.

Louise Duncan will also be looking to impress this week, with the Scot coming into the tournament off the back of an impressive professional debut at the AIG Women’s Open earlier this month where she finished in the top 20.

The post Ladies European Tour race is on for Swedish stars at Skafto Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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Ladies European Tour: Swede dreams as Linn Grant claims Skafto Open to slash Stark’s lead in season race

Ladies European Tour race is on for Swedish stars at Skafto Open