Nicole Garcia finished with a flourish on Saturday as he five-under-par 68 saw her take a share of 12th in the individual competition of the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series-London.
Garcia made seven birdies and two bogeys to come very close to pulling off a top-10 finish behind winner Marianne Skarpnord of Norway who finished on 13-under-par together with Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand. Skarpnord won on the first extra play-off hole.
Garcia finished in a five-way share of 12th with, amongst others, Lexi Thompson of the United States, and she climbed into the top 20 of the Race to Costa da Sol rankings. She is in 19th in the season-long competition to crown the leading LET player.
Lee-Anne Pace is in sixth place on the rankings after he closing one-under 72 saw her finish in a share of 22nd on three-under. Stacy Bregman also closed with a one-under to finish the week one-under in 30th. Lejan Lewthwaite was on five-over after a three-under 70 in the final round.
Skarpnord and Thitikul headed back up to 18 and on their second time, the Norwegian rolled in her birdie putt to clinch the individual title – her fifth on the LET.
Skarpnord said: “It was won with a lot of nerves. On the short putts, my hands were nearly shaking. To win this event is very special. I think this concept is so, so good and we’ve had so much fun this week. I love the format. It’s so much fun when you’re a team and you have to do well for someone else as well – not just yourself.”
Team Cowan finished the team contest in style as they recorded a final round of 12-under-par to secure a three-stroke victory at Centurion Club.
After starting the day two strokes in front, Olivia Cowan, Sarina Schmidt, Diksha Dagar and amateur Andrew Kelsey produced a thrilling back nine as they combined to win with a total of 41-under-par.
The result also meant captain Cowan and Schmidt captured their first title on the LET, while it was a second for Dagar – who won the 2019 Investec SA Women’s Open.
As a result of finishing second in the individual competition, Thitikul has moved to the top of the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol standings.
