Alexandra Fosterling. LET
Ladies European Tour rookie Alexandra Forsterling proved her star potential by claiming her maiden title in stunning style with three consecutive 66s at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
The German triumphed by two strokes at Golfpark Holzhausern.
“I can’t quite believe it,” Forsterling said. “It feels so strange in a way. Obviously you always work for it, but then when it happens you can’t quite believe it.”
Starting the day two shots behind Madelene Stavnar, Forsterling made a steady start making par on her first seven holes as the Norweigan leader made three bogeys in a row on the 4th, 5th, and 6th — her first three of the tournament.
With France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora, Wales’ Chloe Williams, and compatriot Sophie Witt all in the mix and sharing the lead at various points in the final round, Forsterling went into attack mode birdieing 8, 10 and 12 through the turn to take the outright lead.
“I didn’t even know what was going on,” the 23-year-old said, who was aided by having her mum on the bag. “I only knew where my group was at, but obviously everybody can play great. I just tried to play my own game and try my best.
“The two girls I was playing with [Mora and Stavnar] played awesome, I think we all putted great so it was a great battle for sure.”
After Mora and Williams saw their charge squander with bogeys late in round three — the former with two on 15 and 16 and the latter with one on the low scoring par-5 17, it quickly looked to be a two-horse race with Witt birdieing 17 to tie the lead.
But within 10 minutes the situation took a dramatic turn, Forsterling birdieing the same hole in clutch style before Witt dropped a shot on her final hole to cause a crucial two-shot swing.
Two ahead of Witt playing the last, Forsterling finished in style holing from 20-feet to secure a two-shot victory over Stavnar also who closed with a wonderful birdie.
“I’m probably going to take my mum out for a really nice dinner,” Forsterling said, who lands her maiden title less than a year on from winning last year’s LET Q-School. “I owe everything to her and she’s the biggest supporter I have. It was awesome to have her there with me.
“It was obviously my goal to win one time, and I’ve been struggling here and there. My goal for this week was to have a good top-10 finish, but after two rounds being in contention I was hoping for more and I guess it worked out!”
With Stavnar finishing in solo second — her best result on the LET — Witt, Mora and Williams shared third spot on 12-under par.
France’s Anne-Lise Caudal fired a sensational 65 (-6) to finish one shot further back in solo sixth.
India’s Diksha Dagar and England’s Meghan MacLaren share seventh on 10-under-par, with Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz and Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen rounding off the top-10 in a tie for ninth on nine-under.