From a Correspondent
Dromoland Castle: It was a spectacular Sunday for Smilla Tarning Soenderby who secured a dramatic playoff victory at the 2023 KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
The Dane headed into the final day in a tie for 21st place after rounds of 71-67-72 on the first three days of the Ladies European Tour event at Dromoland Castle.
But Soenderby fired the round of her life – a 10 under par 62 – to post the clubhouse lead and was joined by Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson and Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands.
Soenderby quickly settled the issue with an eagle 3 on the first playoff hole to record her maiden title on the tour and make a big move upwards in the rankings.
Kirsten Rudgeley of Australia was third one shot behind the lead trio and England’s Annabel Dimmock and Sara Kjellker of Sweden shared fifth place on 14 under 274.
Having led for the first two days, Diksha Dagar finished seventh on 13-under-par with 2022 champion Klara Davidson Spilkova one shot further back in eighth place.
A missed chip-in and a closing bogey proved costly for the two-time LET winner who brought in four straight sub-par rounds of 69, 65, 71 and 70 on her Irish sojourn.
Tvesa Malik shot a closing 2 under 70 to take a share of 36th place showing signs of returning form with a 4 under 284 aggregate, Vani Kapoor was T54 on level par 284 with a final round 71 and Ridhima Dilawari shared 69th place.
Five players ended in a share of ninth place with Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, Austria’s Sarah Schober, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, Sweden’s Moa Folke and France’s Anne-Lise Caudal on 10-under-par.
In the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, France’s Celine Boutier still leads with 1,725.38 points with Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino second on 1,487.20 points.
Rankings move
Diksha has moved up to third place and now has a tally of 1,337.34 with countrywoman Aditi Ashok in fourth and Sweden’s Linn Grant in fifth.
In the playoff, Soenderby, 23, was on in two and sank her mid-range eagle putt to secure her maiden title on the LET.
“I’m not quite sure what happened in the playoff! I hit a good drive,” she said on the LET website later. “It was a very long drive compared to the first round there.
“Then I had 178 and just wanted to hit a 5-iron to the middle of the green and missed it a bit left. It sounded like I almost holed it and then the putt went in.
“I didn’t think my score was enough when I got into the clubhouse, but it turned out to be enough.
“It is redemption, after the 18th last year I said I’m okay to not be in the playoff because I’m not sure I’m ready to be in that position and I’m ready for it now.
“It means so much. I could see first that I had been in that position last year, so I knew how to handle those emotions and feelings on the 18th fairway, so I knew what to do and I did it. Well done to Lisa and to Anne as well.”
Flying start
Earlier in the day, Soenderby made a hot start with birdies on the first, third, fifth, seventh holes before adding another on the ninth to make the turn in 5 under par 30.
The Dane continued to build her momentum rolling in three more on the trot on 10, 11 and 12 before dropping her only shot of the day on 14.
However, she soon picked up where she left off with birdies on 15, 16 and 18 to finish with a flourish and set the clubhouse lead on 16-under-par.
“It is my best round; I think what went the most right was in my head and the mental game for sure,” she explained.
“It wasn’t my best ball-striking ever at all, I maybe hit two good shots striking wise. I was just in play from the tee, and hit them onto the greens, and hit some good putts and out of nowhere, I was 10-under.
“I love this place, it’s probably my favourite place to be and was really looking forward to it, I was very calm and just happy all week, knew I could score low as well and I knew it was coming today.
“My mum sent me a text last night and said, ‘burn up the course today, go low I know you can do it’. I did some meditation last night and through the morning and it was very easy for me to be aware of where my head was at and still have control.”
New ending
As the Dane approached 18 green in her final round, she thought about last year’s tournament where she made a three-putt and missed out on an opportunity to win, however, it was a different story this time around.
She added: “When I hit it up in the front of the green on 18, it was similar to last year and I hit it in the fringe, and I’ve really been comfortable with hitting from the fringe. My speed was perfect on that one, but I had my coach’s voice in the back of my head.
“Last year I could barely grip my putter, whereas this year I was calmer. I always start getting nervous on the eighth hole and I just got used to the nervousness. I was in the same position last year so just knew how to handle it.”
It was a good day for Sweden’s Pettersson who had an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys on her scorecard for a round of 68 (-4) and also post a total of 16-under-par.
In the playoff, Pettersson also found the green in two but her second shot rolled down the back of the green and she was unable to make her eagle or birdie putts.
Dutch star Van Dam held a three-shot lead going into the final round but had an up and down day with four bogeys and five birdies on her card for a 71 but one of those birdies came at the last to make it a three-way playoff.
However, on the way to the playoff Van Dam’s bag got caught under a gallery rope and fell off the buggy which led to her driver shaft snapping.
Despite that, the five-time LET winner still made the most of the playoff hole hitting the green in two and just missed her eagle putt which would have forced another hole. (courtesy let.com)
Also read: Van Dam into Irish Open lead as Diksha slips in round three
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.