Lauren Walsh’s rookie season on the Ladies European Tour has been relatively stress free with four top-10 finishes in 20 starts leaving her in 17th on the Order of Merit.
But there is no doubt that the penultimate stage of the LPGA Q-Series will have had her breathing heavily as she battled right until the very last putt to make it through to the final stage next month as she kept her dream of a LPGA Tour card alive.
The Castlewarden woman, with her father James on the bag, booked her spot in Alabama’s finale in December when she rolled in a fifteen foot par putt on the last to advance on the cut line on four-under-par after a final round of 71.
Walsh had teed off on the number and two bogeys in three holes to start her round left her with a lot of work to do to join Sara Byrne in the final stage.
But three birdies in four holes towards the end of her front nine got her back inside the cut line and she closed with ten nerveless pars.
It’s the first time the 24-year-old will have had to deal with this type of pressure in her fledgling career but she has taken another step in the right direction as she looks to join Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow on America’s top tier next year.
“Been a very stressful week, but overall absolutely over the moon,” said Walsh.
“Didn’t make it easy for myself coming in. Struggled up the last and had to get up and down and had to hole a 15-footer for par to make it on the number so very stressful week but very rewarding to get through.
“Delighted to get done, played really nicely all week and looking forward to Alabama.”
