Weekend action at the 2024 Ladies Italian Open as England’s Amy Taylor fires a final round 69 (-3) to land her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title.
India’s Diksha Dagar, Singapore’s Shannon Tan, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali and Slovenia’s Pia Babnik also feature at Golf Nazionale as the LET returns to Lazio for the first time in 17 years.
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hello and welcome to the ladies European tour and a return to Italy after a 2-year absence for the 2024 ladies Italian Open we’re just north of the Eternal City of Rome in the latio region at the par 72 GF naan Alle some tight t-shots with gorges and trees lying in weight but if you can keep it online birdies are to be had after thunderstorms affected the practice days the weather was perfect as the tournament got underway and a cloud lifted from Whitney hilia after spending over a year out with long covid the Australian showed no signs of rustiness on her long awaited return to action a lovely pot there at the par 3 12th she would close to under par three players held the lead one of those was Tiffany arafi the Swiss came second on the access tour the week before and the confidence in her game was obvious she rolled that one in at 18 for what was one of seven birdies in a round of 66 Ken rley has been hitting some good form in the last month or so top five finishes in Germany and Sweden and on day one the Australian was one of just five players to post a bogey free round she finished in some star with a birdie at the last the first time the Aussie had been to Italy so far proving a trip to remember Fatima Fernandez Cano Bogi her opening hole fair to say she put it behind her seven birdies after that from the Spaniard who missed most of last season through injury now Philly fit she seems to be returning to the form that took her to two Epson tour titles three at the top then with some impressive scores but the lead was a tight one dick Shad dagger just one shot back they too in conditions remain near perfect at golf Natan Al it’s been a returned to form for two-time L champ Pi babnick after losing her card in 2023 when she struggled with back and feet issues more signs of a game returning here with a second day 67 she’s at five under Tiffany rafy couldn’t match her opening day 66 but the Swiss who plays with Ms had the poter working nicely added to approved swing arafi closed with the 72 to 66 under just one back out in front was Amy Taylor the English woman went out in the morning and collected six birdies and a single bogey armed with a new Putter and full of confidence after a top five on the axis tour the previous week she would be the one to catch on Sunday in truth a very tight looking leaderboard 16 players within five shots Sunday would be impossible to call weather once again close to per perfect for the final round a strengthening Breeze for the latest starters but for Tiffany Rafi things look gloomy a mistake at the first led to a bogey two more would follow over the next three holes the Swiss unable to recover the hopes of a first title ended first time leading on the L you wondered how Amy Taylor would handle the nerves well the early signs extremely positive a birdie at the first another there at the third and how about this approach over the tree at the fourth it was proving to be a dream start for the overnight leader three birdies in her first four holes up to nine under she wasn’t the only one off to a hot start the big local hope Alexandra finale making a Sunday move she birded her first four holes and added another there at the seventh out in 31 dreams of a first Italian winner of the ladies Italian Open were becoming a possibility when she knocked it at tapping range at the PA for 11th finale now seven under but finale not the only Italian going well teenage amateur Franchesca Fiorini picked up her fifth Birdie the day at the 10th to move to six under leaving her just three back not everyone making forward moves Fatima Fernandez Cano back to where she started the day at 5 under with a drop shot at the seven but the birdies kept coming from felini another at the 11th from a player who played a starring role for Europe in the junior Rider cup at G Natan Al in the end she’d come up short but clearly a name to watch bnck another young talent and a big hitter the Slovenian on the par five seventh and two and she nailed the eagle putt up to eight under just one behind her play in part Taylor but the English woman responded she laid up so just a birdie chance but one she would take the two-shot lead after her third Birdie the day and one of her challenges fell back finale was flying into a mistake at the par five 14th a missed third and when she did find the ball she would three part hopes of a home win ended Shannon tan set up a top five finish the Singaporean a winner in the season opener in Kenya couldn’t match the early birdies from Taylor but did land this one at the PA 39th she’d need to keep them coming and hope the leaders would run into trouble yet Taylor was playing goal from the very top draw another brilliant approach with her irons to set up birdie number four of the day at the eighth babnick couldn’t match her and the English woman’s lead would stretch to three shots babnick would then bogey the ninth but she picked up a crucial bounceback birdie at the next a fine Approach at the Par Four to put the two-time L winner back to eight and a par and Maria Hernandez was another putting the pressure on the Spaniard went out in 33 and landed birdie number four of the day at the 13th bogy free she was another eight under and within two shots of Taylor babnick challenge though fell apart on the path 3 12th a firm bounce a t-shot heading into the undergrowth and while she was able to find it it would lead to a double bogey after playing so well the mental strain was obvious for the youngster it was at times a tough watch but Taylor also made a few mistakes Bogies at 11 and 13 but she bounced back with a birdie at 14 and then looked to seal the deal at the 16th approaches don’t get much better than this the English woman with a kick-in birdie she could breathe a little easier also she thought Hernandez who Bogi the 17th looked to be out of it as she stood over a third at the 18th but a real moment of magic chipping Eagle for a final day 67 to set the clubhouse lead at N9 under Taylor who had pared the 17th had a two-shot lead coming down the last and it was one she needed after her par part slipped past she had this for bogy far for straightforward under the circumstances but in keeping with her final day she stroked it home the final day 69 from the 23-year-old 10 under overall her first ladies European tour title the leaderboard looked a little tighter than it felt in the end a One-Shot victory for Amy Taylor over Maria Hernandez Franchesca folini the Italian amateur in a share of third a more than solid week from the 2014 Italian Open champ Florentina Parker finishing in a tie for 12th she’d been the last English winner of this event before today and how sweet must this feel a trophy in the hands of Amy Taylor a win that changes the course of her career big time she admitted afterwards with so much on the line the 18th was far from Easy I knew I had two puts for it when I was on the 18 green and uh Harry my caddy said just like tap it down there and I hit it like three foot past so uh he might have aged a bit because of me today but um I was happy to hold the one coming back was that just a little bit of nerves kicking in knowing that you obviously this is a huge moment in your career so far yeah I mean partly nerves you know the adrenaline’s going I hit it probably a bit harder than I should have done um I thought I hit it soft clearly I didn’t but that’s fine I still won so it’s okay Brony law currently out out with injury retains her lead at the top of the order of Merit little in it though between the top four Amy Tor meanwhile moves up from outside the top 100 all the way to 21st a bad first day cost Kiara tambellini her chance to challenge law and Shannon Tan’s top 10 here has narrowed the Gap in the Rookie of the Year rankings nedy C way out in front at the top of the Rolex rankings the world number one will be teeing it up on the Ed at the aramco team Series in London in a couple of weeks she’s the only player so far confirmed for the US team at the upcoming solheim cup but Europe have a team to be reckoned with Lexi fing currently holding the second Auto Spot and in line to make a debut well thanks for watching as the ladies European tour still yet another firsttime winner Amy Taylor adding her name to the record books after leading overnight she did it in some style next we’re off to the Czech Republic as ever you can keep in touch with all the action at ladies europeantour.com
1 Comment
Yah, I mean…… 😂😂