Rookie Heath wins maiden LET title, back nine woes dog Pranavi

England’s Ladies European Tour rookie Charlotte Heath with her La Sella Open trophy in Denia, Alicante, on Sunday. Image courtesy LET.

By Rahul Banerji

Pranavi Urs stumbled late on Title Sunday even as did several others to still manage a top-20 finish at the La Sella Open in Spain on Sunday.

At the top though, it was a nerveless display by England rookie Charlotte Heath that saw her score a maiden Ladies European Tour win in some style at the weather-affected tournament in Denia. Alicante.

Pranavi was within the top ten after the opening two rounds with cards of 69 and 71, finally ended the week with 2 over par 74 for a share of 17th place.

The event was reduced to 54 holes because of frequent weather interruptions but organisers chose to compensate every player in the field for the inconvenience.

Avani Prashanth who also made the cut along with Pranavi took a share of 27th place with a final round of 2 under 70 to go with earlier cards of 74 and 72 to total even par 216.

Heath, 24, played composed golf over a stretch that saw her closest challengers including Singapore’s Shannon Tan, Alice Hewson of England and past winner Helen Briem of Germany fall away.

Fitting end

The rookie was 1 over 73 on Sunday after rounds of 68 and 65, and she capped her weekend in fitting fashion, with birdie on the final hole of the tournament.

Pranavi began her final round with a trio of pars before picking up her first shot of the day on hole four.

However, a bogey on nine and further dropped shots on 11, 13 and 16 saw the Mysore golfer slip down the order but a closing birdie helped her back into the top 20 and 42nd place in the rankings.

Avani began with a bogey but rallied with birdies on holes four, seven, 12 and 15 against a second bogey on 13. It was good enough for a solid finish and 54th place on the LET’s Order of Merit.

Heath set out on Sunday with a four-shot advantage and saw her lead disappear during a tense afternoon session. But it was a focussed display to finish on 10 under 206, two shots clear of the field.

Heath dropped a shot on the front nine and Briem briefly drew level at nine-under after 13 holes. The German, however, immediately bogeyed 14 to allow Heath to reclaim the lead.

Clear target

As Briem, Shannon Tan and Hewson slipped back on the last few holes, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali set the clubhouse target at 8 under par. Hewson in fact had an eagle putt on 18 to tie the lead, but missed.

That left Heath needing just par to win but she went one better with a blistering drive, and though she needed a good recovery from the second shot, a pitch to within 10 feet and a birdie putt to seal her biggest victory.

“It’s incredible,” said Heath on the LET website. “This year, I’ve gone out in the leading group twice before, so I guess it’s third time lucky.”

Hewson and Fanali were tied for second place on 8 under 208 with impressive final rounds, Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall was fourth while Slovenia’s Pia Babnik and Briem shared fifth place.

Next up is a trip to Italy for the Buccellati Ladies Italian Open at Golf Club Milano from September 25 to 27. 

Also read: Pranavi Urs inside top ten at weather-reduced La Sella Open