Anne-Charlotte Mora claimed a maiden Ladies European Tour victory in dramatic style, producing a fine finish to win the Åland 100 Ladies Open by Alandsbanken.
The 25-year-old from Nantes in France went into Saturday’s final round a stroke adrift of overnight co-leaders Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain and Lisa Pettersson of Sweden. Pettersson took the early advantage on a beautiful morning at Alands Golf Club, but then the Austrian Emma Spitz seized the lead with a birdie on the sixth hole.
Mora made a huge putt for birdie on the fifth hole and then sank another on the long seventh, before giving a stroke back on the par-3 eighth hole. Although she pulled a shot back at the 10th, she dropped further strokes at the 11th and 13th.
Spitz led right up until she three-putted on the par-3 17th hole and as the young Austrian slipped, Mora was able to take full advantage, firing four birdies in her last five holes to lift the trophy.
She birdied the 14th and 15th, then took the lead by holing a six-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole, before sealing the win with another birdie putt from 10 feet on the par-5 18th hole to edge Pettersson by a shot.
After signing for 68 and a 54-hole total of eight-under-par, she said: “It feels really good to get my first win and I’m very happy. My putting was really good, but I wasn’t thinking about the score.
“I tried to play my own game and not focus on the scores. I was really nervous on 18 and we had to wait on the tee box, so I was getting more and more stressed, but it worked out. It means a lot. I actually can’t believe it.
“I really liked the course. When I arrived, I thought, this is going to be a good week, no matter what.”
Pettersson was forced to settle for her second runner-up finish in as many weeks following her performance in last week’s Skaftö Open and she said: “I started off really hot and I had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t take care of. I missed some short putts at the beginning but then I played really solid and I’m really happy that I gave it a chance on the final holes. It wasn’t enough, but I’m still happy.
“Anne-Charlotte holed a lot of long putts today so I thought that she would make that one on 18, it a pretty short straight uphill putt, but you can be nervous. It’s her first win as well, so at least I gave it a chance to make it into a play-off.
“I really enjoyed the course. It’s really pretty and it almost feels like a home tournament. The members have…
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