Suzann Pettersen fired a final round three-under-par 68 to earn her second career major at the inaugural Evian Championship.
The 32-year-old Norwegian shot rounds of 66, 69 and 68 for a total of 203, 10 under par, in the rain-shortened, 54-hole event. She finished two strokes clear of 16-year-old amateur Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who began the day tied for second.
The third and final round quickly turned into a duel between Ko and Pettersen, after overnight leader Mika Miyazato bogeyed the first hole and dropped out of contention with a five-over-par front nine. Ko pulled ahead on the first hole, but Pettersen birdied the second and maintained her lead.
Pettersen, who won the 2007 LPGA Championship, already had three wins this season – one on the LET and two on the LPGA – not to mention her solid performance as a member of Europe’s winning Solheim Cup team. The Evian, which was her 19th career victory, capped a tremendous five weeks for the World No.3 and she is projected to move to second on the Rolex Rankings.
Pettersen said: “It was definitely worth waiting a while for this one, a major! I was actually a bit nervous coming down the stretch but on 18 I said to Brian [Dilley, her caddie], I’m just going to go for it; I’m too good to lay up. I tried to scramble a par.”
After early morning rainfall, which delayed the start of the play by an hour and a half, the majority of the final round was played in warm and dry conditions.
After gaining the advantage on the second, Pettersen birdied the third, bogeyed seven and picked up another shot on eight, remaining a stroke clear of Ko at the turn.
She moved two clear after Ko found a fairway bunker and bogeyed 13, although both players birdied 15. The pair matched each other with pars on the last three holes, allowing Pettersen to take home the €366,393 first prize. As an amateur, Ko could not take home the €223,963.83 second-place cheque. However, she revealed that she is expecting to turn pro ‘very soon.’
“It’s not only what I’m saying. It’s my parents and everything. They have a big say in it as well. Obviously people all around the world have their say. I’m seeing some articles saying, ‘Oh, no you shouldn’t. You should wait.’ I guess at the end of the day, it’s my support crew that’s going to help me make the correct decision. Yeah, it’s secret. I got to get my mom’s permission to say anything.”
With her performances in professional tournaments so far, Ko could have earned approximately US$1.2 million. Pettersen said: “Lydia is a star of the future. She’s good enough to win majors at 16.”
Although Ko, a winner of four professional titles, missed out on becoming the youngest ever winner of a major championship, she said: “I was pretty happy with my round today. Like yesterday I gave myself a lot of the chances to make birdies, so I hit it much closer to the pins. I probably did half of that today.
“I don’t expect myself to make everything, but it was really good to know that I could come so close to the winner at a major. Second is my best finish at a major tournament.”
Ko shot a final round 70, with Lexi Thompson of the USA in solo third, two strokes further back at six-under-par. South Koreans Se Ri Pak and So Yeon Ryu were tied for fourth at five-under, with Angela Stanford, Stacy Lewis and Chella Choi sharing sixth at four-under-par.
Miyazato, who led the first two rounds, ended in tied 15th at one-under-par after a seven-over 78 in the final round.
Spain’s Beatriz Recari was the second best European in a share of ninth place while Holly Clyburn, the Deloitte Dutch Ladies Open champion, was the best Ladies European Tour rookie in a tie for 27th place on one-over-par.
For Pettersen, the victory at the Evian Championship also marks the second straight event that she’s won on the LPGA Tour. The past month has certainly been a special one for Pettersen, who won the Solheim Cup with Europe and tallied four top-3 finishes in her last five events.
“It’s been such a great month, five weeks for me, starting off with the Solheim,” Pettersen said. “I mean, the feelings during the Solheim never really gets old. We had a fantastic team. It was kind of a great kick start for what became probably the month of my career.”
Clyburn Leads Rookie Race against Hull
England’s Holly Clyburn took the lead in the race to be crowned the LET’s Rolex Rookie of the Year for 2013 with a solid performance on her first trip to Evian.
The 23-year-old Ladies European Tour rookie from Cleethorpes earned her place in this year’s Evian Championship through her victory in the Deloitte Dutch Ladies Open.
She finished in a tie for 27th place after rounds of 71, 70 and 73 to finish on a 54-hole total of 214, one-over-par.
With her earnings of €21,275.22, Clyburn moved to sixth on the ISPS HANDA Order of Merit with earnings of €103,434.28 from 12 tournaments. She also moved 14,276 ahead of Charley Hull in the race to be named Rolex Rookie of the Year.
“Since I won in Holland and being a rookie it’s been an aim to catch Charley and I think I’ve probably done that this week. My aim is to get that rookie of the year and if I keep playing like I am doing then I might get there,” she said.
On her performance in the Evian Championship, she continued: “I’d have taken it, but today was a bit disappointing with a rough start and then I came back with three birdies in a row. I had it going until 16 and then got up and down from the water on 16, then got unlucky on 17 and hit it into the crowd on 18. If somebody had said that I’d be top 30 I’d have taken it. It’s good golf out there and it’s getting better every week.”
There are five tournaments remaining on the 2013 LET international schedule, with the next one being the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, from September 26-29.
European Solheim Cup Team Members Continue to Play Well
Since winning the Solheim Cup in the United States a month ago, Suzann Pettersen has won both the Safeway Classic and Evian Championship, while Catriona Matthew picked up the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open. Several of the other European team members performed well in Evian, with the following results.
Beatriz Recari tied for ninth on three-under-par, while Caroline Hedwall and Azahara Munoz tied for 19th on level par. Caroline Masson tied for 37th on three-over, while a stroke further back Anna Nordqvist shared 44th place with Jodi Ewart-Shadoff among others.
After rallying to make the cut on day two, Carlota Ciganda finished in a share of 52nd place, with Catriona Matthew in equal 64th and Giulia Sergas in a tie for 67th.
Ciganda and Munoz will be joined by the remaining European team members Charley Hull and Karine Icher in a fortnight’s time at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in Chantaco.