Maja Stark broke the course record with a 10-under par 63 on Sunday to win the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
Stark collected six birdies on the front nine and finished with 10 during his bogey-free round. She finished 20-under-par 271 for the tournament to be five strokes ahead of LPGA Tour rookie Allisen Corpuz (68) at Galgorm Castle Golf Club.
The victory was Starkโs first on the LPGA Tour and fifth on the Ladies European Tour. The 22-year-old is the 13th player from Sweden to win on the LPGA Tour, and the first since Anna Nordqvist at the 2021 AIG Womenโs Open.
โIโve been so nervous all day, reminding myself to stay calm,โ Stark told Eurosport.com. โThat was easier said than done.โ
That didnโt seem to be a problem for Stark, who had a 31st on the turn and wasnโt seriously threatened Sunday to collect a career first-place check for $225,000. The win also earned the former Oklahoma State star membership on the LPGA Tour without having to qualify.
โI hate qualifying so (Iโm) so thankful I donโt have to,โ Stark said.
The event is tri-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour, the Ladies European Tour and the DP World Tour. A field of 132 men also played on the same courses, with men and women competing for identical purses of $1.5 million.
Scotlandโs Ewen Ferguson secured his second DP World Tour win of the season after recording a wire-to-wire victory in the menโs field. He shot a 1-under-par 69 on Sunday to finish 12-under 268 to win by three strokes over Spainโs Borja Virto (68) and Scotlandโs Conner Syme (68).
As for the womenโs field, Corpuz took second place after recording six birdies against a bogey on Sunday.
Englandโs Georgia Hall shot her second straight 70 to finish third at 14 under, one stroke ahead of Swedenโs Linn Grant (69), Norwayโs Emily Kristine Pedersen (70) and Chinese Taipeiโs Peiyun Chien (71).
Englandโs Liz Young (69) finished at 12 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of LPGA Tour rookie Amanda Doherty (74) and Lauren Stephenson (66). Doherty was bidding to become the first player since Thailandโs Patty Tavatanakit at the 2021 Chevron Championship to win in wire-to-wire fashion.
Yeah, I got a lot of confidence,โ Stephenson said. โWhen you can play well, I wasnโt really worried about the finish, I just made as many birdies as I could and just got a lot of confidence. I wasnโt sure I was going to play, so to come out with a hopefully top 10 is really a nice confidence boost going back to the States.โ
โField Level Media
Source: sn.dk