Xiamen, China: Anne Van Dam birdied two of the last three holes to win the Xiamen International Ladies Open by one stroke from Chinese teenager Shi Yuting.
While Van Dam closed with a 68 for a 17-under 271 total to claim her first Ladies European Tour title, 18-year-old Shi, who led the China LPGA Tour co-sponsored tournament for most of the week, faltered to a bogey-five on the final hole for a 69, missing an opportunity to force a play-off.
Thai Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras (69) was third, three shots off the pace, with American Amelia Lewis (69) a distant fourth seven shots back in the €300,000 tournament at Orient (Xiamen) Golf and Country Club in Fujian Province.
Van Dam, who was tied with Shi going into the day at 13-under, carded three birdies, including two consecutive starting from the 16^th hole, an eagle three at the par-five fourth and a bogey five at the sixth hole. The victory was worth €45,000.
“This is what you practice for your whole life. To do it actually my first time being in contention is absolutely crazy,” said Van Dam who paid tribute to playing partner Shi who was leading by one stroke with three holes to go.
“I knew from yesterday she’s a very solid player, not many emotions. I knew it was tough going to beat her and she had the crowd behind her. The only thing I could do was try to play my best every single shot and I got off to a very good start so that was really nice,” said the 21-year-old from Arnhem.
“Hitting very close on one and just missing, making birdie on two, making a good up-and-down at three and then my eagle at four gave me a boost for my confidence. From there on she (Shi) started to play really well and I was trailing. On the last hole I just didn’t give up and ended up winning.”
Shi, who was flawless through 53 holes, picked inopportune times to drop shots during the tournament as two of her three bogeys came on the last hole of the third and fourth rounds. Her round today included five birdies and two bogeys.
The Beijing teenager put down her poor showing on the final hole to bad luck. “My first shot went wrong and my ball hit a tree and bounced back some 30 yards. It’s bad luck. The lie was not good and I couldn’t hit my approach shot with a three-wood,” Shi said.
“I tried my best with every single shot at the last hole, but it didn’t work out. I am happy with my mental game for the whole day. I worried about nobody and really played my own game. I think I played to my standard, basically.”