May 17: Tvesa Malik dropped three shots in the last four holes on the final day and slipped out of Top-20 at the Investec South African Women’s Open. Tvesa, who shot 76 on a difficult final day finished in T-23rd place with rounds of 72-79-78-76 during a week when wind and rain played havoc with the players’ golf in Capetown, South Africa.
South Africa’s 40-year-old home star Lee-Anne Pace clinched her fourth South African Women’s Open title carding a final round of 72 for a one-shot win over Germany’s Leonie Harm at Westlake Golf Club. She finished the tournament at 2-over 290. Pace’s win made her the first woman to win the title four times and ensures she leads the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol.
Tvesa seemed to be hanging in with two bogeys and one birdie on the front nine and then she had finishing woes.
There was a lot on the line for Pace, who walked away with the first-place winner’s check of €30,000 and tops the Race to Costa del Sol. The ten-time LET winner also secured the Investec Order of Merit for the Sunshine Ladies Tour, as well as the brand-new Investec Homegrown Trophy.
The 76th US Women’s Open takes place in June and the top four players at the Investec SA Women’s Open qualified their place at the second Major of the year. Pace and Harm, who recorded her best-ever finish on the LET at this tournament, head to The Olympic Club in San Francisco alongside Germany’s Karolin Lampert and South Africa’s Nicole Garcia who finished T-3rd.
“I’m so happy to win again – 2014 was my last win on the LET. I hit the ball really well and I felt very comfortable on the golf course,” said Pace, who has won the 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2021 editions of the SA Women’s Open.
“It’s always nice to play at home on the LET – thank you very much for everyone who came over here!”
After play was suspended on Saturday, a few players came back to complete the third round before heading back out onto the course again.
It was Slovenia’s Pia Babnik, the youngest member of the LET, who was in the lead at the conclusion of the third round having carded a 69 to see her level-par for the tournament, but the 17-year-old had a mixed final round which saw her slip out of contention for the win.
Pace, who won the LET Order of Merit in 2010, made two birdies and a bogey on the front nine. She made another birdie on 12 before she dropped two shots on the final two holes, but the South African held on to seal her tenth LET victory.
South Africa’s Caitlyn Macnab finished as the leading amateur, winning the Jackie Mercer Trophy, after carding a final round of 73 to end T16 for the tournament.
