Lee-Anne Pace signed off in the Ladies European Tour’s Comunidad de Madrid Ladies Open on Sunday with a two-under-par 70 and a top-20 finish.
After a tough opening nine which included a double-bogey and just a single birdie, she turned in one-over-par, and proceeded to get her scoring going on her homeward nine. She made three birdies and no drops as she reached seven-under-par for the tournament.
That performance left her in fourth place on the Race to Costa del Sol rankings, while Stacy Lee Bregman is in 44th place on that list after her closing two-over 74 saw her finish in a share of 34th on three-under-par for the week.
The winner, Ana Pelaez of Spain, it was a triumph as the rookie won her first LET title in her debut tournament as a member. The 24-year-old from Malaga shot rounds of 69, 67, 63 and 66 for an impressive total of 23-under-par to win by six strokes.
Pelaez had shown flashes of her brilliance on the LET in the past when she finished third in the 2020 Andalucía Open de Espana as an amateur and she tied for 11th in the same tournament last year, after turning professional in July, on the eve of the Aramco Team Series-Sotogrande.
However, due to finishing in a tie for 83rd at LET Q-School in December, she had Category 18 status on the LET in 2022, which meant that she had to rely on an invitation to play in this tournament.
Needing nothing less than a win to secure her full card – and a winner’s category of membership – she produced fearless golf of the highest calibre and thrived under the pressure. She even shot the course record: a nine-under-par 63 in the third round on Saturday.
“I was very calm. I was trying to do my job, like I did the last few days and take one shot at a time. I was trying to shoot as low as I could,” said Pelaez, who had her brother, Carlos, as her caddie on the course and celebrated every great shot with a fist bump.
