It is every professional golfer's dream to play a nearly faultless last round to win a tournament and know that no one can quibble about the manner of victory. This is what Henrik Stenson did to win The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach in May when his 66 spreadeagled the field and it is what Diana Luna of Italy did to win the AIB Ladies Irish Open at Portmarnock Links on Sunday.
For 18 holes, 18 holes that took a long time to play because fog interrupted the round, Luna did not make a mistake on a course over which mistakes were easy to make. She had no three putts, no missed greens and the firm and fast-running fairways held no fears for her. Her 68 gave her a 54-hole total of 11 under par.
Playing with a rare confidence, Luna, 26, steadily widened the one-stroke lead she had held overnight so that if the truth be told she rather cruised home, winning her first victory on the Ladies European Tour for five years by four strokes.
Tied for second on seven-under were Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera (69), English first year player Florentyna Parker (70) and Swede Sophie Gustafson (71), three-times an Irish Open winner.
Luna had arrived at this demanding links golf course just north of Dublin in good form after finishing second in a tournament in Holland earlier in the month. She had been putting in a lot of work on her technique with Roger Damiano, her coach, at Cannes Mougins golf club. As a result of this, and as a result of improved physical conditioning, she estimated she had added 20 yards to her drives since the end of last year. This is a considerable bonus and not surprisingly Luna found there were bunkers at Portmarnock that she had ended in a year ago but was now hitting the ball far enough to get over them.
The anticipated challenge from Gustafson, an expert at winning tournaments in Ireland, both north and south, did not materialise. “I had a little bit of trouble finding my rhythm after the fog delay but I came back and made a few birdies towards the end" Gustafson said. "I couldn’t really get anything going. Diana played very solid and hats off to her. I would have liked to give her a little bit more of a run for her money but it was nice to be out in the last group and be in contention again.”
Source:The times
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