Sophie Gustafson

(The Carrick, Loch Lomond, Scotland – Saturday September 22, 2007) – Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson sealed her 22nd career title with a five stroke victory at the De Vere Ladies Scottish Open on Saturday.

The 33-year-old carded rounds of 71, 68 and 71 for a total of three-under-par 210 at The Carrick at Cameron House, Loch Lomond.
Over the course of the 54-hole event she played through torrential rain, strong winds and eventually glorious sunshine to become the sole player to score below par.

Three players tied for second on two-over-par. They were England’s Danielle Masters and Kirsty Taylor, who scored 68 and 71 respectively, as well as Sweden’s Sofia Renell, who had a 75 for her career best finish five years on the Ladies European Tour.

Lynn Kenny and Janice Moodie were the best placed Scots and tied for fifth place with Jade Schaeffer of France and Denmark’s Karen-Margrethe Juul on four-over-par.

But it was Gustafson who made her mark on the newest championship course to have opened in Scotland. The six-time Solheim Cup player began her final round with a one stroke lead on three-under-par.

Having completed the final six holes of her second round on Saturday morning, she began her third round at 1.20pm and posted eight consecutive solid pars to extend her lead to four strokes.
She looked like a dominant force as she holed a three foot birdie putt at the par-four ninth to move to four-under-par with a four stroke lead and then posted another birdie at the par-five fifth hole.
Despite stumbling with a double bogey at the par-four 13th and a bogey at the 14th, she came home with three straight pars and a birdie at the last, where she holed a 30 foot putt.

“It’s always nice to play well and it feels pretty good,” said Gustafson, who earned €30,000 for the victory.

“I felt rattled after the double and I immediately made another bogey. But then I got back into my rhythm.

“I blocked my tee shot unto thick rough and chopped it out. I got an extremely difficult lie in a bunker so I couldn’t get my third shot up on the green. A chip and two putts kind of rattled me there.”

She added that winning a tournament individually was completely different to experiencing The Solheim Cup.

“It’s two different things. I don’t think anything can fix the disappointment from last week,” she said, adding that she would celebrate her win with a couple of pints.

Gustafson will remain on European soil to defend the Uniqa Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen in Austria next week. Last year, she won the tournament by two strokes over England’s Laura Davies at Golfclub Forenwald in Wiener Neustadt, where the event is taking place for the third consecutive year.