Latest news with #LallaMeryemCup
Mint
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Diksha looks to maintain momentum on LET; Pranavi, Avani and Tvesa join Korean challenge
Seoul, Korea, May 8 (PTI) The Indian quartet, led by Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs, will look to produce a strong performance when it returns to action on the Ladies European Tour (LET) after a three-week break at the Aramco Korea Championship, beginning on Friday. Diksha and Pranavi will be joined by Tvesa Malik and rookie Avani Prashanth in the USD 2 million event at the New Korea Country Club, which is hosting the tournament for the second consecutive year. Diksha has been enjoying a fine run this season and will aim to continue her momentum after back-to-back Top-10 finishes – T-9 at the SA Women's Open and T-8 at the Joburg Open. Earlier, she finished T-11 at the NSW Open in Australia and was runner-up at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco to begin her season. Currently fifth on the LET Order of Merit, Diksha in six starts has had three Top-10 finishes and missed just one cut. Karnataka girls, Pranavi and Avani, also multiple winners on their home Tour, the Hero Women's Pro Tour, have had decent outings so far. Pranavi in five starts has made four cuts and was in Top-15 twice – T-14 at NSW Open and T-11 SA Women's Open and she is 37th on the Order of Merit. Rookie Avani has also made four cuts in five starts with two Top-20 results – T-16 at Lalla Meryem Cup and T-13 at Australian Women' Classic and she is 38th on the Merit list. Tvesa Malik will be hoping for a reversal in fortunes as she has made just one cut in four starts and will need some strong results to rise from her current 134th place. All four want to get into a strong position to challenge for their home event, the Hero Women's Indian Open, later in the year. This is the seventh event of the 2025 global schedule and will feature 104 players from 33 nations in the Team and Individual competitions with a prize fund of USD 2,000,000 on offer. The individual competition has on offer USD 1.5m and another USD 500,000 is for the team event. In the Team competition, the best two gross scores from the four players on each hole will count towards their side's overall score. World No 8 Hyo Joo Kim leads the field on home soil and will be defending her crown after her three-shot shot victory in 2024. Kim is joined by compatriot and fellow Major winner Sung Hyun Park as well as USA's Danielle Kang, the winning captain in last year's Team event. There are a lot of LET winners with no fewer than 34 champions teeing up in Seoul. The field of 104 players will be split into 26 teams. One of those teams will have four South Korean amateurs, with the other 25 teams split into teams of four professionals. Following 36 holes, the field will be cut to the top 60 players, with the final day dedicated solely to the Individual competition.
BBC News
17-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Fabulous fortnight fuelling Fuller's future'
A more comfortable airplane seat was the first of what are likely to be many benefits accruing from a career-changing fortnight for young English golfer Annabell 22-year-old treated herself to an upgrade after fully capitalising on forcing her way into the PIF Saudi Ladies International last week. Once there, she was beaten only by world number four Jeeno Thitikul, of Thailand, and South Korea's Somi all the tournaments on the Ladies European Tour to do well in, this is the one. Worth a total of £3.9m it towers over the rest of the schedule on a circuit where making ends meet is the main is little wonder that Fuller asked for a sponsor invitation into the field, but unlike last year it was not the previous week's Lalla Meryem Cup, worth less than £375,000, suddenly acquired considerable value. "In Morocco I said to my caddie (Neal Herman) 'it's fine, we'll just get a top 10'," Fuller told BBC Sport.A finish of such magnitude in Morocco was the only remaining route into the Riyadh tournament. And she was true to her word, finishing in sixth place. "I was probably just as happy with that as I would have been if I'd won the tournament," Fuller said. "I so badly wanted to go to Saudi because it is one of our biggest events."The Roehampton golfer, who turned pro a year ago after attending the University of Florida, returned to Saudi Arabia a different player from the rookie of 12 months ago."I saw that if you made the cut in Saudi you would get $10,000, which is basically what I got for coming sixth in Morocco," Fuller said."So my little goal was to make the cut and that would be a stepping stone forwards again. And then, obviously, I did a little bit better than that."Fuller opened with rounds of 66 and 68 and in the final round battled back from early dropped shots to card a 71 that left her 11 under par, five shots behind the winner and in third place on her collected more than £205,000 which she agreed amounts to a life-changing sum. "That's one way of putting it," Fuller said."I still haven't comprehended what happened, but I changed a couple of my flights to upgrade a little bit. The whole outlook of this year has changed now. I've got different goals in mind than I had a week ago."Now I've got the same amount of points after two events than I got in 22 events last year."Twelve months ago Fuller told BBC Sport she would give her professional career an initial three years and see how much of her father's money she would end up spending."In one week, effectively I've built up my next three years without needing my dad," Fuller smiled. "I was on the flight back that I had booked and I saw Charley Hull sitting up front in business."And it was a weird, surreal feeling that that's going to be my life now too. It was cool, I kind of got giggles about it."Surviving on the Ladies European Tour is far from easy. Three-time LET winner Meghan MacLaren illustrated the point on a recent post on X, where she detailed her January included tour membership fees of nearly £700, almost £2,000 in flights, management fees of £2,688 as well as indoor practice fees, an Australian visa costing £214 and gym and physio all, the 30-year-old forked out £6,551.85 for the month. Another English pro, Eddie Pepperell estimates he pays £5,000 a tournament in costs, sitting at the back of planes to and from unless a player has generous sponsors, the only way of recouping such outlays is by performing on the golf course. Only those at the very top of the leading tours are spared what can be a hard, uncertain is a useful context in which to view Fuller's achievement because it was self generated. "It's a tiny, tiny mindset change, but knowing I had earned my spot into Saudi instead of getting an invite was, I think, a really big difference," Fuller said."My coach texted me and said 'go show them that you are meant to be there'. Now I believe in myself a little bit more."Fuller took inspiration from the performance of her friend and fellow Englishwoman Cara Gainer, who won the Moroccan tournament earlier this month."I looked up to her and how she organises herself and she is very driven," Fuller said. "Seeing her win, I knew I wasn't far off that week."Fuller says she reaped the benefits of returning to Florida for practice after Christmas and her new caddie Herman has helped her mindset on the golf course. "We get on really, really well," she said."We've been getting to know each other and chatting loads and I know it sounds silly but I was in a good mood and felt happy."Fuller's main goal this year was to improve from 66th on the LET's Order of Merit, which yielded around £73,000 last year, and reach the top 30. But now flights are not the only thing to have been upgraded."With a couple more good weeks I could make the LET top 10 which would take me into the final stage of LPGA Q School and maybe I can automatically qualify for some of the majors," Fuller said."Instead of going through qualifying, my goal now is to be high enough on the ranking to get automatically into the AIG Women's Open (at Royal Porthcawl from 30 July-3 August), so that would be quite special."Fuller is still in search of a first tour win, but now feels that is within her compass. As she proved last week, this young Englishwoman has come a long way in her first 12 months on tour since emerging from LET Tour School."It's completely different," she reflected. "Now I'm a bit more experienced travelling-wise and I have my own routines."A year ago it almost came out of nothing and I almost wasn't prepared for it. Whereas now, I've accepted this is my life."
Khaleej Times
11-02-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Cara Gainer wins playoff to claim first Ladies European Tour victory in Morocco
England's Cara Gainer secured her first Ladies European Tour (LET) victory after defeating India's Diksha Dagar in a playoff at Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco. Going into the final day, only a two-shot difference separated the top 10, making it a tight leaderboard with lots of players in contention to win the season opener. Gainer started the day in T5 and produced a solid final round of 69 (-4) at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. This marked her third visit to the tournament having previously come T30 in 2024 and T49 in 2023. The maiden LET winner will take the full 500 points to sit top of the Order of Merit. The 29-year-old rolled in birdies on holes two, four, and eight, before another three off the bounce on the back nine. She dropped her only two shots of the day on the front nine. 'First tournament back of the year, you can't really ask for any better,' said Gainer. 'I was aware when we started how many people were in with a shout, but I knew there's a lot of good players. I knew people were going to be shooting low scores, so I just wanted to keep in my own bubble, and I thought if I had shot, maybe three or four under, there could be a chance. Then, when I started to birdie the last few, I thought hold on a minute, this could really be real.' Talking about her final round, the 29 year-old said: 'I missed short putts on 11, 12, 13, and 14 which were all makeable putts, so was getting frustrated. Then we got to the par-five, where my caddy [Seb Brock] and I said we could still win this if we birdie. Then from there I just kept racking them up, hitting really great iron shots, with straight up the hill putts so that was great.' Gainer had her fiancé Seb Brock on the bag this week. She continued: 'He's come with me to caddy this week. It's really special to have him here and celebrate my first win with me.' During the offseason, she analysed last season. Gainer had a bit of wrist injury during 2024 so was a tricky year but focused on what she needed to do to hit the perfect shot during the break. Diksha Dagar came just short in the playoff to claim second place at the season opener. This still makes a very good start to Dagar's 2025 campaign, which saw her also set the clubhouse record on -9 with a stunning final round of 67 (-6). Having started the day in T14, she made seven birdies across the last 18 holes, and dropped her only shot of the day on hole 14. The 24-year-old has two LET victories to her name and will also be playing in next week's PIF Saudi Ladies International, along with Gainer. Sweden's Kajsa Arwefjall finished the highest rookie and marks a solid start to her first LET season. The Swede clinched LETAS Order of Merit winner and Rookie of the Year last year so will be one to watch. Tan, who came into the final round with a one-shot lead, finished eight-under-par after 54 holes. The Singaporean, who won the season opener last year in Kenya, had back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, with a further birdie on 15. The 20-year-old dropped two shots on the front and back nine to finish in third place in a close leaderboard. Two players finished in a share of fourth place on seven-under-par after the three rounds. Ireland's Lauren Walsh and Spain's Nuria Iturrioz. Walsh had a stunning round of 68 (-5), one shot behind the clubhouse record, as she climbed 17 places on the final day. 'I got off a pretty solid start. I made a lot of nice pars, one or two birdies on the front nine,' said Ireland's 23-year-old. 'A little slip up on the par-five, but I got it going on the back nine, had a lot of really nice iron shots. I hit a lot of shots inside 10 feet and managed to convert three of them, left one or two out there.' She continued: 'I'm really happy with how this week has gone, first week back in the office and to get in contention is always nice so very pleased with the week's work. I was sick to start out the week, so happy to be able fight back.' Speaking about her offseason, Walsh said: 'My coach and I always look at the end of the year and how it's all gone – things I can improve on. For me, my putting was a huge part of that, my wedges also. I hit some really nice wedges today and this week so my coach will be happy with that. The putting has been coming along nice as well, held some nice ones this week. I just took some time off and worked hard.' Iturrioz, the winner of the 2019 OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic, is familiar with this course and has a good track record with this tournament having won in 2016 and 2019. A top four finish for the Spaniard makes it another successful tournament in the books. France's Nastasia Nadaud and England's Annabell Fuller both came in a tie for sixth place, having carded rounds of six-under-par across the three days at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. England's Bronte Law, who won the 2024 edition, finished in a tie for eighth place alongside seven other players including France's Celine Herbin, Singapore's Aunchisa, Spain's Luna Sobron Galmes and Teresa Toscano, Sweden's Kajsa Arwefjall and Lisa Pettersson, and Germany's Aline Karuter. This week the LET heads to Riyadh for the PIF Saudi Ladies International which takes place from Thursday 13th – Saturday 15th February, 2025.
Morocco World
09-02-2025
- Sport
- Morocco World
Hassan II Trophy, Lalla Meryem Cup: Miguel Angel Jiménez, Cara Gainer Win Big
Rabat \u2014 Spanish golf star Miguel Angel Jim\u00e9nez and England's Cara Gainer claimed victory at the Hassan II Trophy and the Lalla Meryem Golf Cup. The event took place at the Royal Golf Dar Essalam from February 3 to 8.<\><\> Miguel Angel Jim\u00e9nez, 60, proved age is just a number. He won with a total of 208 strokes, finishing 11 under par. He beat New Zealand's Steven Alker, who finished two strokes behind. Golf icon Ernie Els came third with 212 strokes.<\><\> Jim\u00e9nez said that he was thrilled with his win, calling Morocco \u201chis home,\u201d in an interview with MAP. He played a strong final round and sealed his victory at the 15th hole.<\><\> As for the women\u2019s side, English golfer Cara Gainer won the Lalla Meryem Cup after a play-off against India's Diksha Dagar. Gainer finished with 210 strokes, nine under par, and Singapore's Shannon Tan came third, just one stroke behind.<\><\> Read Also: <\> Moroccan Golfers Tee Up Success on International Greens<\><\><\>\>\>\> \> \>\> \>\> \>\> \>\> Click allow to get notifications on every article we post.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gainer seals first LET title with play-off win
Lalla Meryem Cup - final round leaderboard -9 C Gainer (Eng), D Dagar (Ind); -8 S Tan (Sgp); -7 N Iturrioz (Spa), L Walsh (Ire); -6 Annabell Fuller (Eng), N Nadaud (Fra) Selected others: -5 B Law (Eng); -4 A Dimmock (Eng), A Hewson (Eng); -2 S Byrne (Ire) England's Cara Gainer claimed the first Ladies European Tour win of her career in a play-off at the Lalla Meryem Cup on Saturday. The 29-year-old defeated India's Diksha Dagar to lift the title in Morocco. Gainer posted a final round of four-under 69, while 24-year-old Dagar finished on six-under 67, leaving the pair tied on nine under overall. A bogey for Dagar opened the door for Gainer to take victory by birdieing the play-off hole. Ireland's Lauren Walsh finished joint-fourth with Nuria Iturrioz on seven under, while England's Annabell Fuller ended level on six under with France's Nastasia Nadaud. Gainer was one of nine players chasing down overnight leader Shannon Tan after Friday's third round. Singapore's Tan was overtaken by the first nine holes, however, as she failed to make any birdies, eventually ending the tournament in third. Iturrioz started brightly with four consecutive birdies to take the lead, but the Spaniard dropped out of the running after four bogeys on the back nine.
