Belgium’s Manon De Roey held on to her one-shot overnight lead, after an up-and-down final round, to take victory at the Santander Golf Tour LETAS Valencia – finishing -5 for the tournament. Final day playing partner Carmen Alonso stayed in second place as the duo both posted matching even-par scores of 72 on the final day at the Club de Golf Escorpion.
“I’m happy I won today. It was tough, I had some nerves going through the round. I started very strong and then I had some struggles in the middle, and then I stayed steady throughout the round. So, I’m happy.”
De Roey made a scintillating start to her round with birdies on the opening two holes to move clear of Alonso and the chasing pack. Another birdie at the par-5 fifth propelled the Belgian into a three shot lead and she looked to be cruising to a second LET Access Series title heading into the seventh hole in the Spanish sunshine.
The 27-year-old admitted to being nervous heading into the final day’s play at Club de Golf Escorpion and showed signs of this with a loose shot at seven that led to a first bogey of the round, De Roey’s first since the second hole of round two. The rare dropped shot triggered a wobble for the Belgian with two further bogeys at holes eight and nine meaning she reached the halfway mark back on level par for the day.
Despite the mid-round lapse for the Belgian, she maintained the lead as rival Alonso was a shot further adrift on +1 after nine holes. On the back nine, the experienced Spaniard renowned for her fighting spirit battled back to close on level-par for the day and -4 for the tournament.
This wasn’t enough for Alonso to record a second LET Access Series victory in as many years as De Roey regained her composure down the stretch to stay level for the round and finish -5 for the tournament and clinch a second LET Access Series title after claiming the WPGA International Challenge crown in last year’s Series.
In recent weeks, the Belgian has been in fine form finishing as the highest placed female by some distance at the Saint-Malo Golf Mixed Open – a joint event with the LET Access Series and the Alps Tour.
“Last week was something totally different with the guys of course. I played pretty solid, my iron game, my long game was pretty good. So, I just continued playing like that here and it worked out.”
The win also sees De Roey move up to second position in the Road to LaLargue standings behind only Laura Gomez Ruiz, who finished in fifth-place in Valencia this week, a fourth top-10 finish in a row on the LET Access Series cementing her position at the top of the order of merit.
The LET Access Series now takes a short break before a packed August schedule begins in two weeks’ time. From August 1st to 3rd the players will tackle the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge at the Golf Resort Konopiste, the first of five events in as many weeks, as the race to claim crucial points in the season-defining Road to La Largue Final hots up.
