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Sunday, September 30, 2007

LADIES' EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
UNIQA LADIES OPEN
Fohrenwald Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
200 Laura Davies (Eng) 69 65 66
204 Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 69 66 69
209 Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (Fra) 71 69 69, Kirsty Taylor (Eng) 72 68 69
210 Lora Fairclough (Eng) 72 70 68
211 Clare Queen (Sco) 73 68 70
212 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 74 67 71
213 Stefania Croce (Ita) 72 71 70, Marta Prieto (Spa) 73 69 71, Trish Johnson (Eng) 73 68 72, Diana Luna (Ita) 68 69 76
214 Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 73 70 71, Martina Eberl (Ger) 74 69 71, Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den) 70 72 72, Stephanie Arricau (Fra) 73 68 73, Karen-Margrethe Juul (Den) 70 70 74, Elizabeth McKinnon (NZ) 70 70 74, Danielle Masters (Eng) 72 68 74
215 Veronica Zorzi (Ita) 73 74 68, Zuzana Kamasova (Svk) 77 69 69, Lisa Jean (Aus) 72 73 70, Laura Cabanillas (Spa) 73 72 70, Natalie Claire Booth (Eng) 70 74 71, Georgina Simpson (Eng) 72 72 71, Lisa Hall (Eng) 71 71 73
216 Ana Larraneta (Spa) 74 71 71, Florence Luscher (Swi) 73 70 73, Nora Angehrn (Swi) 74 69 73, Mianne Bagger (Den) 70 71 75
217 Melodie Bourdy (Fra) 78 68 71, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 71 74 72, Rebecca Coakley (Irl) 72 73 72, Sarah Heath (Eng) 73 71 73, Marina Kotnik (Aut) 74 70 73, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 70 72 75, Anja Monke (Ger) 75 67 75, Fame More (Eng) 72 69 76, Tania Elosegui (Spa) 70 71 76
218 Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 73 74 71, Cassandra Kirkland (Fra) 74 72 72, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 76 70 72, Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa) 70 75 73, Nicole Gergely (Aut) 72 73 73, Stefanie Michl (Aut) 73 70 75
219 Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 72 75 72, Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 70 76 73, Rikke Rasmussen (Den) 75 71 73, Stefanie Endstrasser (Aut) 76 70 73, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 71 74 74, Iben Tinning (Den) 75 70 74
220 Ludivine Kreutz (Fra)75 72 73, Anne-Lise Caudal (Fra) 76 71 73, Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 74 72 74, Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 74 72 74, Lynn Brooky (Nzl) 72 74 74, Ana B Sanchez (Spa) 75 71 74, Sarah Nicholson (Nzl) 67 75 78
221 Lara Tadiotto (Bel) 72 75 74
222 Barbara Paruscio (Ita) 74 73 75, Sara Beautell (Spa) 75 72 75, Lynn Kenny (Sco) 72 73 77, Wendy Berger (Aus) 72 73 77
223 Jehanne Jail (Fra) 72 75 76, Elisa Serramia (Spa) 73 73 77
226 Kirsty S Taylor (Eng) 73 73 80.

LAURA DAVIES ENDS 13 MONTHS WITHOUT A
WIN WITH VICTORY IN VIENNA

FROM THE LADIES' EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Laura Davies produced a vintage performance to end a 13-month wait for a title at the UNIQA Ladies Open near Vienna in Austria today.
The 43-year-old from England added a final day six-under-par 66 to her previous rounds of 69 and 65 - (which was a new course record) – to claim her 36th Ladies European Tour title and her 68th in total.
Laura finished on 16-under-par 200 after 54 holes, four strokes ahead of Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson in second.
France’s Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (71, 69, 69) and England’s Kirsty A Taylor (72, 68, 69) finished tied for third on seven-under-par, while 18-year-old amateur Marina Kotnik was the highest-placed Austrian, finishing tied for 30th on one-over-par.
It was Davies’ maiden victory in Austria and her first title since the SAS Masters in Norway in August 2006. It was a win which also helped her to top the New Star Money List for the seventh time in her career.
Laura admitted it came as a welcome relief. “It’s nice. It was getting a bit late in the year. I’ve only got eight tournaments left so I had to win one.
“It’s massive, it’s massive. I just love winning trophies. It’s easy to say but I just love winning them and this makes it that there was only one year in the past 23 years that I didn’t win a tournament (2005) and that still wrangles me that I didn’t win a tournament that year.
“I love the golf course and that was one of the reasons I came back. I knew I could do well around here and here I am: I’m the winner.”
Davies started the day at 10-under-par with a one-stroke lead over Gustafson. The Swede drew level with Davies by birdieing the first hole but Davies responded immediately with a birdie of her own on the very next to regain the advantage.
The turning point came on the 384yd fifth. Davies completed the hole in regulation 4, while Gustafson dropped two shots with a double-bogey 6 to increase the gap to three strokes.
A birdie 3 on the seventh sent Davies four clear before a going one better than Gustafson’s birdie on the ninth by eagling it with a 20ft putt for a 3.
It was Davies’ second consecutive eagle on that hole and it put her five shots clear at the turn.
The lead was reduced to three shots after the par-3 10th, which Davies bogeyed and Gustafson birdied.
It was to be the only difference between the two friends as they matched each other shot-for-shot on the next seven holes, with a pair of birdies on 12th and 15th.
Davies’ victory was sealed on the final hole after Gustafson sent her second shot into the lake. Davies’ chip to an inch of the pin ensured she finished in style with a birdie to the delight of the Austrian gallery.
However, there was little in the way of a celebration by Davies. “The only time you really see people going mad is if it’s their first tournament or they hole a putt to win a tournament. You feel a bit silly dancing round the green with a four-shot win,” Davies said afterward.
The win helped her to forget missing the cut at the De Vere Ladies Scottish Open the previous week, although both tournaments featured weather delays. The Austrian competition was reduced to three rounds after heavy rainfall on Thursday.
Davies began her first round on Friday poorly and was three-over after four holes, having made a triple bogey on the newly-reconstructed dogleg 13th. Despite that she said: “I couldn’t have played much better this week. I was three-over after four holes in the tournament and I’m nineteen under since then over three rounds of golf so this was some good stuff this week.
“I played really well at The Solheim Cup. I dismissed Scotland last week as a bit of a one-off week where I missed the cut. I’m playing well.
“It was hard work today. I played really well and I had to. Sophie was always going to shoot a decent round,” she said.“Being paired with Sophie was the worst news I could have had. If there was one person I didn’t want to be paired with, it was her. She hits it as far as anyone. I was nervous, no question.”
Davies picked up a cheque for €37,500, and will go head-to-head with Gustafson again next week at the inaugural Madrid Ladies Masters.
Colin Farquharson writes:
Clare Queen shot a third-round 68, one of her best rounds of the season. She had 16 birdies and one double bogey over the 54 holes. In her final round she reached five-under-par 211 with birdies at the second, seventh, ninth, 10th, 14th and 15th. Clare bogeyed the 13th and 17th. Her cash prize amounted to 8,750 Euros.
Inverness-based New Zealander Liz McKinnon had one of her better finishes of the season - joint 12th on two-under-par 214 with rounds of 70, 70 and 74 to earn 3,771 Euros. Her late birdies at the 15th and 16th came just at the right time to boost her finishing position.
Lynn Kenny, after solid rounds of 72 and 73, sagged to a 77 for 222 and joint 59th place. The Archerfield Lnkis player birdied the ninth and 18th but had seven bogeys on her card. She earned 787 Euros.

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