They were expecting rain at Dundonald Links on Sunday but perhaps not a Flood. She may be known as Rebecca Artis these days yet, to all and sundry on the Ladies European Tour, the popular Australian continues to go by the moniker ‘Floody’. She made a name for herself in Ayrshire, all right. A charging six-under 66 for a six-under 210 saw Artis – maiden name Flood – surge from six shots back to win the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open by two strokes from overnight leader and the world No 7, Suzann Pettersen.
There’s a queer old difference between the Gold Coast of Australia and the slightly more bracing surrounds of Scotland’s west coast but Artis took the drizzly, breezy conditions in her stride. The 26-year-old could have been knocked off that stride when she took a damaging double-bogey on the fourth but her recovery was purposeful and ultimately profitable as she reeled off seven birdies to set the clubhouse target. When Pettersen, playing in the final match, leaked a shot on the 16th then found the ditch with a make-or-break approach on the last, the title, and the £53,000 first prize, belonged to Artis.
The 16th hole would prove to be significant in the grand scheme of things. While Pettersen came to grief on it, Artis made a sizeable gain when she chipped in for birdie from around 65-feet. “Sometimes you need things like that to go your way,” she said.
This was Artis’s second win on the European circuit and she clearly revels in the chase. Her maiden win in the Helsingborg Open of 2013 saw her come from five shots behind on the final day. “To chase down players like Suzann and Lydia Ko is pretty awesome,” added Artis, who will head down the A77 to Turnberry for this week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open with a considerable spring in her step. “When you’re coming from behind, you have to go out and play aggressive golf and that’s what I did today.” With her husband, Geoff, on the bag, there was cause for a double celebration. “It was his birthday on Saturday and he was complaining that he never got anything,” she said. “This will do.”
After that rude-awakening on the fourth, Artis showed her resolve and made back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth before further gains at eight, 12, 13 and 14, and that dink in on the 16th, bolstered her assault.
Pettersen, meanwhile, found herself three ahead of the field through eight holes but her challenge would unravel on the back-nine. Bogeys at 10 and 12 didn’t help and when she slipped a stroke behind Artis with another spilled shot on the 16th, the 34-year-old had to go on the offensive on the par-5 18th to try and at least force a play-off. “I had to go for it and I just miscalculated it,” said the Norwegian of her approach from 197 yards that bounced short, dribbled into the burn and left her with a 74 for a 212. “Credit to Rebecca, though. A 66 on the final day deserved to win.”
Holly Clyburn, the former Curtis Cup player, finished third on 214 while Lydia Ko, the world No 2, warmed up for this week’s British Open with a share of fourth on 215. “This was the weather we kind of expected for Scotland so it’s been good preparation for me,” said the 18-year-old with her usual cheery smile.
Having started her week with a 79, Lanark’s Pamela Pretswell completed a super salvage operation with a 69 that left her in a tie for eighth on 219 and gave the 26-year-old a seventh top-15 finish of an impressive season. During Friday’s first round, Pretswell birdied the 18th just to break 80. Yesterday, she launched a 6-iron into 25-feet and holed the putt for an eagle to finish with a flourish.
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