Swede cruises to victory in women’s season opener

The long wait for a home winner continued as the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Strokeplay Championship ended at Royal Troon, although some might be claiming Linn Grant as Scottish.

The 17-year-old cruised to a five-shot victory in the traditional season opener for women in European amateur golf but, even though she is the granddaughter of a Scottish professional, she was born in and represents Sweden.

The 17-year-old, from the Rya club in Helsingborg, where grandad James emigrated to from Inverness, stretched her two-shot lead going into the final 18 holes on the Open Championship course to a five-shot margin over Huntly’s Shannon McWilliam, who had a podium finish for the second time in three years.

She finished with a threeround five-under total of 209.

Grant’s final round par 72 was enough for the biggest title of her young career, and she was in charge of the championship after her superb 66 on Troon Portland in Saturday’s second round took her to the front.

“I won a junior event in Doral in Florida during the winter but this is my biggest win so far in the game,” she said.

Linn’s big aim for the season is to gain a place in Europe’s Junior Solheim Cup team that will play prior to the main matches at Des Moines in Iowa in September,

Heather Stirling was the last native winner of the title in 2002, but the closest McWilliam got to Grant was the first hole, when she got within a shot after the young Swede’s opening bogey.

However three birdies at the second, fourth and sixth proved crucial and when McWilliam double-bogeyed the seventh, Grant’s lead was six shots.

The Swede gave two back via a bunker at the Postage Stamp, but birdies at 10 and 12 put the result beyond any doubt, with the third-placed Annabel Wilson from Ireland having fallen out of contention early with three dropped shots in her first three holes.

Linn had one more wobble with a second double bogey five of the day at the short 14th, but she was not to be tested the rest of the way to the clubhouse.

There was encouragingly two Scots in the two 10 with Grantown-on-Spey’s Hannah McCook coming through for a ninth place finish on two-over. Results 209 L Park (Swe) 71 66 72 214 S McWilliam (Huntly) 69 70 75 216 H Muse (West Lancs) 75 70 71, A Wilson (Lurgan) 73 68 75, C Ryan (Castleroy/UCD) 72 72 72, A Linner (Swe) 72 69 75, A Forsterling (Ger) 68 73 75 217 M Stark (Swe) 72 69 76 218 H McCook (Grantown-onSpey) 72 71 75, E Henseleit (Ger) 72 71 75 219 O Winning (Rotherham) 71 74 74

Winner: Linn Grant.