Amateur Lucie Malchriand wins LET Ladies Italian Open
May 30, 2021 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Lucie Malchirand
The 18-year old Frenchwoman becomes first amateur to win the Italian Ladies Open
Lucie Malchirand, an 18-year old amateur from Carmoux-en-Provence, France, birdied the last two holes to win the Ladies Italian Open on Sunday at the Golf Club of Margara in Piedmont, Italy. Malchirand, who represented Europe in the 2019 PING Junior Solheim Cup and was coming off a win just two weeks ago at the Portuguese Ladies Amateur, carded a final round 72 on Sunday to finish at 7-under 209 for the tournament, good for a one-stroke victory over Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and England’s Gabrielle Cowley.
There was plenty of volatility atop the leaderboard on Sunday, as Scotland’s Michele Thomson’s magnificent final round 67 gave her the clubhouse lead at 5-under 211. The lead was short lived, however, as Wikstrom eagled the 18th for a final round 68 and a one-stroke lead at 6-under. Cowley gained a share of the lead with birdie on the 12th but failed to overtake the Fin over the final six holes.
Malchirand got off to a blazing start on Friday, making seven birdies on the day en route to a 6-under 66. Her birdie on the par-5 18th hole on Saturday gave her a 1-under round of 71 and a one shot lead over Cowley entering the final days play.
However, Malchirand quickly lost her overnight lead after a bogey on the opening hole while Cowley made a birdie. After a birdie on the ninth, Malchirand was just one behind Cowley at the turn. She regained her lead with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12, but quickly relinquished it with bogeys on 13 and 15 to fall one off the pace.
With a playoff seemingly looming between Wikstrom and Cowley, it was the 18-year old Malchirand who rose to the occasion with birdies on the final two holes to cap a rollercoaster round to become the first amateur to win the Ladies Italian Open.
“I played up and down. I made birdies and bogeys, so it was quite stressful, but it was really good,” said Malchirand. “On the back nine, there are a lot of leaderboards so I saw my name on the top, then going down again and then back on top. After my putt on 17, I thought maybe I could do it with the par-5 18th coming up. I thought this was my time.”
Malchirand becomes the second amateur player to win a professional women’s event this year following 19-year old Caitlyn Mcnab’s victory on the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Jabra Classic in April.
There was plenty of volatility atop the leaderboard on Sunday, as Scotland’s Michele Thomson’s magnificent final round 67 gave her the clubhouse lead at 5-under 211. The lead was short lived, however, as Wikstrom eagled the 18th for a final round 68 and a one-stroke lead at 6-under. Cowley gained a share of the lead with birdie on the 12th but failed to overtake the Fin over the final six holes.
However, Malchirand quickly lost her overnight lead after a bogey on the opening hole while Cowley made a birdie. After a birdie on the ninth, Malchirand was just one behind Cowley at the turn. She regained her lead with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12, but quickly relinquished it with bogeys on 13 and 15 to fall one off the pace.
“I played up and down. I made birdies and bogeys, so it was quite stressful, but it was really good,” said Malchirand. “On the back nine, there are a lot of leaderboards so I saw my name on the top, then going down again and then back on top. After my putt on 17, I thought maybe I could do it with the par-5 18th coming up. I thought this was my time.”
Malchirand becomes the second amateur player to win a professional women’s event this year following 19-year old Caitlyn Mcnab’s victory on the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Jabra Classic in April.
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