Thomson: Bring on 2018 after hard work pays off
● Aberdonian delighted to finish in top 20 on LET money-list as Macdonald also ends campaign on a high by hanging on to card
Michele Thomson heaped praise on new Ladies European Tour No 1 Georgia Hall but also expressed delight about her own eye-catching efforts in the final few weeks of the 2017 season.
Hall picked up both the LET Order of Merit and Players’ Player of the Year Awards on Saturday night after the season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Classic, which was won in a play-off by American teenager Angel Yin.
“Congrats for your amazing year,” wrote Thomson on Twitter in a message to English player Hall, who finished around £175,000 clear of second-placed Carlota Ciganda on the money-list after recording seven top-10s.
One of those came in the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns as the 21-yearold secured a Solheim Cup debut in Des Moines and already Hall, pictured, looks as though she could be a key player for Catriona Matthew in the 2019 match at Gleneagles.
Having already played in a Curtis Cup on home soil, Thomson would love to be involved in that and the 29-year-old Aberdonian has given herself the perfect platform heading into next season.
Just 12 months after finishing fourth on the LET’S development circuit, the Access Series, to earn a step up to the main Tour, Thomson finished as top Scot on the Order of Merit in 16th spot following a strong end to the campaign.
The former Scottish Women’s champion took full advantage of a sponsor’s invitation to finish second in the Hero Indian Open before producing an equally good effort in claiming a share of ninth behind Yin in the Dubai event.
Thomson earned close to £39,000 in the final three events to finish ahead of Carly Booth (31st), Pamela Pretswell Asher (34th), Gemma Dryburgh (49th), Kylie Henry (55th), Kelsey Macdonald (64th) and Vikki Laing (100th) on the money-list.
“Hard work is starting to pay off,” admitted Thomson, who joined the police after giving up on her first crack as a Tour professional but used her spell away from the game to rediscover her love for golf and is now going from strength to strength. “Bring on 2018,” she added in a post on Twitter.
Macdonald will also now be relishing the new campaign after the Nairn woman avoided a trip to the Qualifying School by retaining her card thanks to finishing joint-11th in an event that saw 19-year-old Californian Yin chalk up a first professional victory.
Elsewhere, the Joburg Open has spilled into an extra day after bad weather forced play to be suspended in the final round before the leaders had made the turn at Randpark Golf Club. India’s Shubhanakar Sharma was set to resume early this morning with a four-shot lead over home hope Erik Van Rooyen.
Among the players to get finished was 21-yearold Oban left-hander Robert Macintyre, who rounded off his European Tour debut with a closing twounder 70 to sit joint-45th in the clubhouse on sevenunder.