Three Australians: Nikki Campbell, Sarah King and Whitney Hillier and New Zealand’s Cathryn Bristow have earned their full playing rights for the 2013 Ladies European Tour.
ACT’s Campbell, who is a 10 year veteran of the LPGA of Japan, finished in a tie for second position at 19-under-par after firing a final round of six-under 66 on the Al Maaden golf course in Marrakech, Morocco.
The 32-year-old said after her round “I played well today, so it was good. I`m really happy.â€
“I`ve always wanted to come and play here so I`ve been playing in Japan the last ten years and things were getting the same old, so just the same thing all the time, something new is pretty exciting.â€
“I`m looking forward to going home. It`s been a while since I`ve been home so it should be nice. I`ll go home to Canberra and stay for a while. The Women’s Australian Open is at my home club next year in February, so that should be fun.â€
For Sarah King it wasn’t an easy day at all. The South Australian started the final round inside the top 10, however she hit a major hurdle when she took a nine on the par four 5th hole. King showed composure beyond her young years to recover and post a three-over 75 to finish at eight-under-par and tied for 20th position.
The rookie professional was ecstatic afterwards, “It means the world; all the hard work that I`ve put in since I started golf at 12 years old. This is what we live for: to be able to play professional golf, have a full card on the tour.â€
“I had a pretty good start, a couple of pars and then a birdie and then had a bit of a mind lapse on the fifth hole and over clubbed and hit it in the water and then hit it in the water again with my chip shot and made nine on that hole, so I had to re-group from there. “
“It was probably mentally the toughest game of golf I`ve ever played but I think I got there in the end, so it was a bit of a struggle.â€
Whitney Hillier was the final Australian to finish in the top 30, the West Australian posted a 73 to finish at nine-under-par and tied for 17th position.
For Kiwi, Bristow, a two-under-par 70 moved her seven-under-par which was the magic number for the top 30 playing cards.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn won the Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Stage by five shots from England’s Emily Taylor and Campbell.