England’s Cara Gainer won her maiden Ladies European Tour event after a dramatic play-off at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
Gainer’s previous best result was second at the 2022 Belgian Ladies Open but she recorded her biggest career triumph on Saturday after beating India’s Diksha Dagar to the title.
The 29-year-old kept her cool at the end by birdieing the play-off hole, as Dagar made a bogey, to come out on top after the pair were on nine under overall.
“First tournament back of the year, you can’t really ask for any better,” said Gainer, whose fiance Seb Brock was her caddy this week.
“I was aware when we started how many people were in with a shout, but I knew there’s a lot of good players. I knew people were going to be shooting low scores, so I just wanted to keep in my own bubble, and I thought if I had shot, maybe three or four under, there could be a chance.
“Then, when I started to birdie the last few, I thought hold on a minute, this could really be real.”
Gainer was one of nine players within overnight leader Shannon Tan, who lost her lead on the front nine as she did not make any birdies.
Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz’s four consecutive birdies to halfway saw her take the lead but four bogeys on the back nine put her out of contention.
Meanwhile, Gainer and Dagar were level going into the last nine holes. Dagar birdied the 11th and 13th but bogeyed the 14th, before Gainer made a hat-trick of birdies prior to the final hole and finished the day on four-under 69.
Dagar’s six-under 67 meant a play-off was required to settle the title and Gainer came out on top with another birdie.
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“I missed short putts on 11, 12, 13, and 14 which were all makeable putts, so was getting frustrated,” explained Gainer.
“Then we got to the par-five, where my caddy and I said we could still win this if we birdie. Then from there I just kept racking them up, hitting really great iron shots, with straight up the hill putts so that was great.”
Watch round three of the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 4pm on Saturday, with coverage also on Sky Sports Main Event from 6pm. You can also stream no contract with NOW.
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