Pace just loves lifting a title on home soil
PRETORIA: South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace cruised to her second successive title in the R100 000 Ladies Tshwane Open yesterday.
The World No 31 stretched a two shot overnight advantage to a five stroke victory over KwaZulu-Natal’s Melissa Eaton at Pretoria Country Club.
Pace finished with an effortless one-under-par 71 to claim her third Sunshine Ladies Tour title this season on four-under 140.
Eaton signed off with a 74 to finish three strokes clear of Bonita Bredenhann from Namibia and fellow KZN golfer Tiffany Avern-Taplin, who shared third after respective rounds of 73 and 74.
Pace navigated her way to the turn with nine successive pars, and notched her first birdie at the par-four 10th.
She notched up her only other gain at the par-four 15th and even the six on her card at the 18th did little to detract from the Pearl Valley golfer’s delight.
“It wasn’t the ideal way to finish, but I always looked at making bogey after I hit it to the wrong side of the green,” Pace said.
“It doesn’t matter to me one bit. I wanted to get this one in the bag and it was great to get the job done. Nothing beats coming home and competing on home soil and I had a great time out there today with some of my family and friends in support.”
The SA Women’s Open Championship victory netted Pace 400 points and she earned 250 points for her SuperSport Ladies Challenge win last week.
Following the Ladies Tshwane Open triumph, Pace rose to third in the Chase to the 2015 Investec Cup for Ladies standings.
With 900 points in hand, the Pearl Valley golfer is within striking distance of Eaton, who leapfrogged three-time winner Stacy Bregman and leads with 1,021 points. – Sapa