Russia’s Nina Pegova secured her second LET Access Series win and her first in 2021 as she beat German amateur Charlotte Back in a playoff at the Flumserberg Ladies Open.
The 27-year-old produced a sizzling final round of 65 (-7) to finish on 11-under-par and set the clubhouse lead.
But Back, who was one of the co-leaders overnight, rolled in a birdie on 17 to join Pegova at the top of the leaderboard.
The duo headed back down to the 18th tee, and it was the Russian who got the better of Back as she clinched her second LETAS win after two playoff holes.
“It feels very good! I’m very happy, I don’t think it has sunk in yet and I think I will realise that I have won the tournament a bit later,” said Pegova.
The LETAS winner found some excellent form on the final day at Gams-Werdenberg Golf Club as she rolled in four consecutive birdies on holes two through to five before adding another on the ninth to make the turn in 31.
The Russian golfer continued her birdie bonanza with three in-a-row on 11, 12 and 13 and rolled in another on 16 but dropped two shots on her final to holes to finish on 11-under.
“Today everything was going so well. I had birdie opportunities on almost every hole. I missed some short putts which were between 1.5-3m, so it was an ideal round for me,” said Pegova.
“My mentality was to enjoy the final round because I realised if I want to win, I need to play really well and get really far under par. You never know how well the other girls are going to play, they might play five-under or seven-under. I tried to enjoy and play my best as good as I can.”
Back continued her impressive tournament and opened her final round with four birdies on the front nine to make the turn in 32.
The German made birdies on 10 and 14, but dropped shots on 11 and 15, before rolling in her final birdie on 17.
England’s Lily May Humphreys fired a spectacular final round of 64 (-8) to climb up the leaderboard to finish in third place.
The Order of Merit leader produced six birdies on holes four through to 11 before dropping a shot on 15.
However, the 19-year-old rolled in three consecutive birdies on her final three holes to finish at 10-under-par for the tournament.
Five players finished tied fourth on six-under-par including overnight co-leaders Katharina Muehlbauer and Kristyna Napoleaova, who both had level par rounds.
India’s Amandeep Drall is also T4 alongside Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta and Switzerland’s Priscilla Schmid, who recorded rounds of 69 today.
English duo Thalia Martin and Rachael Goodall ended the tournament T9 on five-under-par after final rounds of 71, and they sit alongside French amateur Charlotte Liautier.
Six players from LETAS will secure their Ladies European Tour cards for 2022 and Pegova is firmly in contention to claim one of those spots.
But the 27-year-old is not putting any pressure on herself with three tournaments left until the end of the season.
Pegova added: “I feel very positive and very excited but I’m trying not to think about it. It is still too early. There are three events to go, but I hope that it will finally happen this year.”
