Linn Grant, winner of the Scandinavian Mixed. Pic: Tristan Jones/ LET
Gothenburg, Sweden, June 12: Sweden’s Linn Grant scripted a milestone in world golf, as she became the first female winner on the DP World Tour. Grant saved her best till last and stormed to a sensational nine-shot victory with a final round of 64 at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed.
The Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed is a co-sanctioned event between the LET and DP World Tour and it sees 78 men and 78 women playing for the same prize fund of US $2 million and one trophy.
Grant, 22, capped an historic week shooting rounds of 66, 68, 66 and 64 to win with a total of 24-under-par.
Scotland’s Marc Warren and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, also one of the two hosts – the other one being the legendary Annika Sorenstam – both finished in second place on 15-under-par, after final rounds of 65 and 70, respectively.
Indias’s Tvesa Malik, Diksha Dagar and Shubhankar Sharma missed the cut in the event.
A year after playing the same event as an amateur and finishing T18 she turned professional in August, 2021. In the time since then she has won six times – three times on LET, including the latest win, twice in South Africa on the Sunshine Tour and once in LET Access, series, the Terre Blanche Ladies Open in October, which was her first success as a pro.
In December Grant secured status on both the LPGA Tour and LET before heading to South Africa where she claimed two victories on the Sunshine Ladies Tour and then secured her first LET win in the co-sanctioned Joburg Ladies Open.
The former Arizona State University student clinched her second LET victory in Belgium two weeks ago, before adding another this week.
It was her sixth victory since turning professional. She now hopes her win in a mixed event will put more eyes on the women’s game.
Grant began the day two shots clear of Australia’s Jason Scrivener and got off to a blistering start rolling in birdies on five of her first six holes. Three further birdies on the back nine saw the Helsingborg native seal an emphatic win – her third on the LET in 2022 – at Halmstad Golf Club.
“I’m speechless and I’m so happy that I’m at home just to see all the kids and my family is here and everyone that I care about is watching, so it’s really nice,” said the 2017 PING Junior Solheim Cup player, who carded her eighth consecutive round in the 60s.
“I was actually surprisingly calm on the first tee. My first day with Annika [Sörenstam] was my most scary and stressful one, so today on the first fairway I told Pontus that I was very calm and it’s very doable today to play with this.
“I felt happy and relieved and to be able to get in the zone and just enjoy golf for a last day was very nice. When I walked up on the 13th green, I saw the leader board and I saw it was eight shots and it was very relaxing to not have to change gears and I could just go out and continue doing what I was doing.”
She added: “I hope this victory is big. I hope it brings women more forward and it gets people’s eyes on us a little bit more. It is always nice to say that you beat the guys for a week! To be able to speak Swedish and hear everyone out there cheering for you, it was amazing.”
Stenson said: “I think in the end I ended up tied second with a couple of late birdies and the only thing I could have done better was solo second because there was just one player out there today and she played amazing.
“Every time I looked back, she was in prime position and just gave herself birdie chance one after another I would imagine, so there wasn’t much I could do against a player like that, so very well played and congratulations to Linn.”
Spain’s Santiago Tarrio, Dutch golfer Darius Van Driel and Australia’s Scrivener ended the day in a share of fourth place on 14-under-par.
Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer finished in T7 alongside French duo Romain Langasque and Matthieu Pavon one shot further back.
Rounding on the top ten were England’s Paul Waring, Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard Moller and Spain’s Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, who all finished the tournament on 12-under-par.
In the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Grant has moved up to second place with her third victory of the year and has 1,739.39 points.
Compatriot Maja Stark remains at the top of the race with 1,752.50 points, but her lead is now just 13.11 points.
Johanna Gustavsson completes the Swedish trio at the top of the rankings and has 1,404.30 points after playing in 12 events.
