A nine-birdie blitz combined with an eagle for a bogey-free final round of 11-under-par 60 secured South Africa’s Kiera Floyd her maiden professional win on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in the Platinum Ladies Open on Friday.
Floyd showed her intent with a front nine of 29 and then rounded it off with a closing nine of 31 on the par-71 Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate course for her lowest round of golf in her professional career and a winning score of 15-under par.
England’s Hayley Davis finished second on 14-under with a closing five-under-par 66 followed by South Africa’s Casandra Alexander in third place on 12-under after she also signed for a final round of 69.
Floyd was in awe of her own performance on Friday.
“I honestly have no words. It doesn’t feel real right now but I think it is definitely going to kick in later. It’s just amazing. This is my first victory on tour. I am trying to bring it back to reality. I honestly didn’t realise it today on the golf course either. When I got off after nine and I saw that I shot 29, and I was like … oh, ok.”
The 20-year-old Floyd said her putting was especially impressive during Friday’s round.
“I basically kept the ball in play off the tee and I hit a lot of greens which helped, but my putter was just on today. Something just kicked in with my putting and I just felt so comfortable over the ball. Everything was good, but the main aspect was my putting.”
The young golfer who turned professional in 2023 favours longer courses and confirmed that Blair Atholl suited her game particularly this week.
“This course suits my game. I am quite a long hitter so it doesn’t play as long for me but the course set-up was just perfect to my distances the whole day and the whole week, and it was just a pure golf course to play on. It just suited me. Even during the pro-am I shot five-under, so I knew it was out there.”
Floyd was paired with Olivia Mehaffey from Northern Ireland during the final round and said she enjoyed the exposure to international competition.
“It’s so nice to have all the international players in the field. I played with Olivia Mehaffey today and I learnt so much from her - like how calm she is on the course. And if the European players make a drop, they just carry on. So, it is very nice and a good experience playing with them. Olivia said I made her round of six-under par look terrible today,” laughed Floyd.
The ABSA Ladies Invitational is up next on the Sunshine Ladies Tour schedule and will be played from 27-29 March at Royal Johannesburg.
Scores
198 - Kiera Floyd 71 67 60
199 - Hayley Davis (ENG) 65 68 66
201 - Casandra Alexander 66 66 69
202 - Olivia Mehaffey (NIR) 72 65 65
203 - Emma Grechi (FRA) 69 67 67, Karoline Lund (NOR) 64 71 68, Fernanda Lira (MEX) 70 63 70
204 - Kaiyuree Moodley 68 69 67, Gabrielle Venter 67 68 69
205 - Emie Peronnin (FRA) 70 68 67, Nadia van der Westhuizen 69 70 66, Danielle du Toit 70 66 69, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 68 67 70
207 - Zethu Myeki 71 67 69, Nikki Hofstede (NED) 65 72 70, Maiken Bing Paulsen (NOR) 66 70 71, Laura Beveridge (SCO) 70 71 66
208 - Romy Meekers (NED) 68 70 70, Rosie Belsham (ENG) 70 68 70, Demi Flanagan 69 69 70, Madelene Stavnar (NOR) 68 72 68, Carolin Kauffmann (GER) 69 71 68, Lora Assad 67 69 72, Hanna Tauber (GER) 73 67 68, Cara Gorlei 70 66 72, Tandi McCallum 66 67 75
209 - Selena Costabile (CAN) 70 70 69
210 - Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ) 70 68 72, Mayka Hoogeboom (NED) 66 72 72, Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (ISL) 69 70 71, Esme Hamilton (ENG) 69 71 70, Lorna McClymont (SCO) 70 71 69
211 - Vidhatri Urs (IND) 69 67 75, Elina Nummenpaa (FIN) 66 74 71, Chantal Dueringer (AUT) 70 71 70
212 - Isabella van Rooyen 72 68 72, Lindi Coetzee 70 71 71
213 - Ana Dawson (IMN) 71 69 73, Emma Falcher (FRA) 71 70 72, Anais Meyssonnier (FRA) 70 71 72
214 - Stacy Bregman 72 69 73
Comments