McWilliam loses out after play-off drama

Aboyne’s Shannon McWilliam suffered play-off heartbreak yesterday to exit the Women’s Amateur Championship at the semi-final stage.

McWilliam lost at the 19th hole to Iceland’s Jóhanna Lea Lúvíksdóttir, who will now take on Scotland’s Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) in today’s final after she edged out compatriot Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe) in a play-off.

In a fiercely competitive match McWilliam was trailing by one after four holes at Kilmarnock (Barassie) but fought back to reach the turn at all square.

The Aboyne golfer then seized control by rattling off three on the trot from the 10th but Lúvíksdóttir was not to be brushed aside easily and had levelled proceedings by the 17 th.

The Icelandic golfer then showed tremendous bottle to take the win with a par at the first extra hole as McWilliam could only make a bogey six.

With her victory, Lúvíksdóttir wrote her name into the history books as the first Icelandic golfer to make a Women’s Amateur Championship final.

In the other semi-final, Duncan edged a tense all-Scottish affair against Darling, also at the 19th hole.

If Duncan can win today’s final it would be the first time a Scot has lifted the Pam Barton Memorial Salver since Alison Rose claimed the prize at Cruden Bay in 1997.

Earlier in the day, McWilliam had defeated Gracie Mayo (Wales) 3 & 2 while Darling edged Annabell Fuller (England) by one hole and Duncan beat Jessica Baker (England) by the same scoreline.

Shannon McWilliam lost semi-final at first extra hole.