[Photo: Kate McShane/Getty Images]
France’s Nastasia Nadaud stormed to victory firing a six-under 66 to win the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España by four strokes on the Ladies European Tour, with two Australians pushing her all the way.
The 21-year-old from Chambéry started the day in third place, five shots behind overnight leader Trichat Cheenglab and found birdies early in her round at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf.
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Nadaud made birdies on the first and third holes before an eagle on the fourth and she made a further birdie on the fifth to go to the top of the leaderboard.
After the turn, the Frenchwoman rolled in three birdies on the trot on holes 10, 11 and 12 before dropping a shot on the 13th and 16th holes.
However, Nadaud went to the 18th hole with a four-shot lead and rolled in her par to seal her maiden LET title at 16-under-par.
“I don’t really know what to say! It’s been so intense all week, I’m really happy with the outcome,” Nadaud said. “It’s been a rollercoaster week, but it’s insane. I don’t have the words for right now.
“All week I had pretty weird shots to play from the trees and missing fairways, I hit amazing shots as well. I had a really hot start and was five-under through five holes. My putting has been really good all week and it has saved me a lot of shots. It’s been really intense.
“I think the previous experiences [of finishing second] really helped me. First in Belgium, I had a really stressful shot out of the rough and I stressed out. The same at La Sella, it was stressful and I didn’t know how to handle that. This time I had a stressful back nine from 13 to 16 and I knew how to handle that much better in my head and my game of golf as well.”
Nadaud has been working with LET player Michele Thomson as her caddie since the start of September and she credits her with improving her confidence in her game.
“It has been an amazing run of events with Michele since she started with me in Houston. She has really helped me with my self-confidence with my mental game and my golf game of course. She brings so much confidence for me, I really love that.”
Western Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley [pictured] ended the week in outright second place after a final round of 69 in Malaga.
The 24-year-old rolled in a birdie at the first hole and added another on the fourth before back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh. She added another on the 14th hole before her only mistake of the day – a double-bogey on 17 – but it was enough to seal second place at 12-under-par.
“It was amazing, it was a good week,” Rudgeley said. “The golf course was amazing. Everyone is in the same boat, and we have all earned our spot to be here. It’s nice to finish on a good finish, it will make the flight [home] a bit more comfortable. It’s nice, [but] ready for the offseason.
“This golf course has definitely got a few holes where you can lose shots and unfortunately that happened for me, but I played nicely all day and played well all week. It’s nice to see the game trending in the right direction.”
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Four players finished in a share of third place with Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and France’s Perrine Delacour all on 11-under-par.
It was a great final day for Bennett, who had only one dropped shot on her scorecard alongside seven birdies for her 66.
“I haven’t played here before,” Bennett said. “I started off a bit rocky, but came good towards the end there. Today was super-solid and I actually holed some putts, so it was good.”
In the LET Order of Merit, Singapore’s Shannon Tan ended the year as No.1, 183.01 points ahead of England’s Mimi Rhodes with Nadaud jumping from ninth to third in the ranking. Bennett (20th) and Rudgeley (21st) finished the season as the leading Australians, ahead of Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (32nd).
