Ashleigh Buhai fired a final-round 68 to win the 2023 Investec South African Women’s Open at Steenberg Golf Club on Sunday.

The South African had held a four-shot lead since the midway mark and maintained that advantage on the final day.

Buhai rolled in six birdies and two bogeys on the fourth day of competition to seal her fifth LET title with a score of 22-under-par and win this tournament for the fourth time.

One last drive from Ashleigh Buhai who takes a four shot lead down the 72nd hole ?#RaiseOurGame | #InvestecSAWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/ZqIGeW6xnT

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) March 11, 2023

“I’m over the world right now,” said the major champion. “I’m ecstatic to have got the job done. My goal was to come in here and win this week. I tried to play it down because it’s a lot of pressure and I knew it was going to be difficult. Now, I’ve got it done and over the line I’m really happy.

“It’s always important for me to try and play the SA Women’s Open when I can, unfortunately the scheduling didn’t work out in the last few years with it moving due to Covid but I’m happy even though it was at the end of a four-week run. I was a little tired at the beginning of the week but obviously, now I’m thrilled I was able to come back and play it.

“With what I’m doing at the moment between my golf swing and the mental side, I just need to stick it. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel and hopefully, I can keep up this consistency, that’s what my main goal is to become more consistent and give myself a chance every now and then to win a golf tournament.”

The 2022 AIG Women’s Open champion began her day with a birdie on the first and then made three birdies on the trot between holes four and six, before adding another on the ninth.

It was a tougher back nine for Buhai with bogeys on 15 and 17, but she finished in style with a birdie on 18 to win her home tournament for the first time since 2018.

She explained: “It was great to start off with a birdie especially after yesterday when I made a bogey. I hit a good putt on two and three, birdied four and five. I just kept it going.

“On the back nine, I felt I hit good shots, I was just in between yardages and the wind got a little bit trickier. Luckily, I had that big lead, so I could just hit it to the space on the green and take my two putts and they had to come chasing. I did what I had to do to get the job done.

“I’m very proud of myself with how I battled through and also Dave keeping me in it especially yesterday, trying not to exert energy. Today my energy was back and it showed with the way I came out and I did really commit to hitting those golf shots.

“I’m sure there will be a celebratory brie tonight! We’ve got a few family and friends here so it’s going to be nice to be able to share it with them.”

Another dart from @anapelaezgolf ?#RaiseOurGame | #InvestecSAWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/dDyR8iV0Dp

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) March 11, 2023

For a consecutive week, Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino finished in second place on the LET after she produced a round of 68  on the final day to reach 18-under.

It was a flawless day for the LET winner who rolled in birdies on holes five, 10, 12 and 18 to secure her runner-up finish.

The Spaniard said: “I felt really good this week and last week. We’re focusing on doing our job, eating well, going to the gym, resting, playing golf and being mentally stable. We’re making sure that every area is covered and then just go out there and have fun.

“Luckily, we’re playing good golf and we can enjoy it even more. I’m going to take everything to next week and hopefully get that win. I like runner-up finishes, but I’d rather have the trophy with me!”

Back-spin goals @thechiaranoja ?#RaiseOurGame | #InvestecSAWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/Gy3MDayVDo

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) March 11, 2023

Dubai-based German Chiara Noja ended the tournament in solo third place on 17-under after a fourth-round 69 which included four birdies and one bogey.

“I’m really proud of myself that I managed to pull through this week,” said the teenager. “After the first round, I was feeling really bad physically. I played decent golf today. I had so many missed opportunities and I finally didn’t miss the top 10. We’re back in business.”

Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher finished in fourth place on 15-underwith South Africa’s Kaleigh Telfer fifth on 11-under, while Czechia’s Klara Davidson Spilkova was one shot further back in sixth spot.

Five players finished in a tie for seventh place with France’s Anais Meyssonnier, England’s Gabriella Cowley, South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson and Italy’s Alessandra Fanali all on nine-under.

In the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, India’s Aditi Ashok continues to lead the way with 1,210 points to her name.

Spain’s Pelaez Trivino moves up to second on 754 points with Buhai third with 545.19 points.

England’s Lily May Humphreys sits in fourth with Sweden’s Maja Stark in fifth, England’s Alice Hewson in sixth and Belgium’s Manon De Roey in seventh.

Germany’s Noja moves up to eighth place with 391.25 points, Sweden’s Linn Grant is ninth and Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela rounds out the top 10.

The post Buhai storms to 2023 Investec South African Women’s Open title appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 2022 AIG Women’s Open champion backed up her first round of 64 with a round of seven-under to put herself in pole position on 15-under-par at Steenberg Golf Club.

It was a flawless day for Buhai who rolled in her first birdie on the fourth before adding two more on holes eight and nine.

Back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 put the South African into the lead and she extended her advantage with two more birdies on 16 and 17.

“It is always a good day when you have no bogeys, so that’s first things first,” said Buhai, who is No. 18 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

“My front nine was a little bit of a slow start, I got a bit unlucky on number five when I hit the flag and it ricocheted. I stayed patient and then managed to finish birdie-birdie. I just managed to hit it to good spots on the greens and made a few putts on the back nine.

“The golf course is staying soft, so you can be a bit more aggressive, but the pins were a little bit more tucked today. At the same time, I had to be patient. I felt myself trying to push a little bit and then on seven, I hit it left and I said to myself to just hit it to my spaces and the birdies will come and that’s what I did on the back nine.”

Buhai is a former champion of the tournament having won three times previously in 2004, 2007 and 2018.

Heading into the final two rounds, the four-time LET winner is going to stick to what she knows and enjoy having her husband David on the bag.

She explained: “I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I will stick to my process and stick to my steps and try and stick to my thoughts that I have in my swing, that’s all I can control and hopefully, the outcome will be what we want.

“It’s always good fun to have him on the bag. He caddied for me for eight years, no one knows my game better other than my coach Doug. It’s good when we can do these one-off weeks together every now and then.”

Dubai-based German teenager Chiara Noja, who led overnight, sits in second place on the leaderboard on 11-under-par after a round of 71 on day two.

The teenager had tough morning conditions with lots of wind and rain but still managed to have four birdies on her scorecard.

“My front nine the rain was quite torrential, so I was just trying to make pars,” said the 16-year-old. “I made a birdie on 11 and thought to myself: ‘Woah, how did I do that?’ I was very pleased with myself.

“I dropped a stupid two shots on 15 which was a little silly, but apart from that it was a decent day. I couldn’t quite convert some of the putts that I gave myself opportunities for on the back nine. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully, I’ll be drier.”

Four players are in a share of third place with Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher, Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino, France’s Nastasia Nadaud and Netherlands’ Romy Meekers all on eight-under-par.

Five players sit in a tie for seventh place with South African duo Kaleigh Telfer and Casandra Alexander, English pair Lily May Humphreys and Gabriella Cowley, as well as Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson on six-under-par.

The post Buhai leapfrogs Dubai’s Noja to lead at halfway stage of South African Women’s Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Dubai-based schoolkid got off to a hot start at Steenberg Golf Club with four birdies in her opening five holes before dropping her only shot of the day on the sixth.

Noja soon found her rhythm once again with an eagle on the eighth and rolled in a further five birdies to secure her spot on 10-under at the top of the leaderboard.

62 (-10)
Steenberg GC course record
Career best round
Leads by two @thechiaranoja ?????? ?? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ?#RaiseOurGame | #InvestecSAWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/BVduqZVfPt

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) March 8, 2023

“I think it was pretty consistent golf in general,” said the German, who won the Aramco Team Series Jeddah Individual Title in November. “I didn’t feel like I was swinging it incredibly well all day.

“I put myself in a good position for birdies, my putting was definitely good and to hole some of those putts was really good.

“My wedges were on point and I think that’s what we’ll try to do going into the next few days. Depending on the wind, we’ll see exactly how much we will need to go under par.”

Being still so young in her professional career, Noja worked hard on adding new shots to her bag over the off-season.

She explained: “Over the winter I’ve done a lot of wedge work and a lot of the shots that I’ve learned to hit over this week and the start of the season I didn’t have in the bag last year.

“There’s growth in that sense and also trusting myself a little better. I learned that in Jeddah last year and I’m trying to commit to everything and not be afraid to fail.”

South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai sits second on eight-under having produced a round of 64 on the first day of competition.

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