The 33-year-old Frenchwoman held a four shot lead overnight and closed with a one-under-par 71 to secure her second title of the year after the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open five weeks ago. It was her seventh Ladies European Tour trophy in little more than a two year period.

Nocera posted a 13-under-par total of 203, winning back-to-back in the same tournament for the first time in her six-year career. Last year the tournament was played at the same golf course but went by the name of the KLM Ladies Open. Nocera won by a seven shot margin but this time it was not so easy. She rolled in a perfectly judged 18 footer at the last for her one shot victory over Melissa Reid from England.

She said she played ugly. “I just didn’t play well; I had some really ugly shots,” said Nocera. “I missed some fairways and then I missed some greens. I had to fight to make pars and then when I didn’t make pars I made bogeys. It was just not really nice golf. I just told myself, “It doesn’t matter how you play, it only matters if you lift the cup or not so I tried to win anyway.”

As Nocera found trouble on the front nine she watched her lead narrow as Reid gradually caught up. The 20-year-old rookie, paired with Nocera, was just one shot behind Nocera after six holes in the final round. There was temporary relief for Nocera when she birdied the seventh, which Reid bogeyed.

Reid caught up with a birdie at the par three 11th-hole which Nocera bogeyed. The players were still tied after 17 holes, Reid having bogeyed the 14th and birdied the 15th. However Reid’s hopes of a first Ladies European Tour title disappeared when she missed her 20-foot birdie chance at the 18th.

“I don’t think Melissa did anything wrong,” said Nocera, who earned a first prize of €37,500 and now leads the New Star Money List with earnings of almost €140,000 from eight tournaments.
“She shot four-under and she played really well. From my point of view I didn’t play well and I had to manage that. I think that’s experience when even if you play bad you are capable of making the putt you need to make on 18.”

Reid shot a third successive round of 68 to finish on 12-under-par in second, her best finish in eight appearances on the LET this year.

Runner up Melissa Reid

“I definitely feel I can win now,” said Reid, who moved from 14th to seventh on the LET rankings. “I had two not very good weeks and it just goes to show that every time you pitch up on a Thursday it’s a brand new tournament and a brand new week. Everyone starts off the same.

“I hit the ball pretty good all week. My swings felt pretty good. To be honest I didn’t hit it as good today as I did yesterday but I’m still pretty satisfied. I felt I gave a couple of shots away out on the golf course but Gwladys had a great birdie on the last. She won it.”
Anne-Lise Caudal from France, 23, shot a final round of 68 to finish third on 11-under-par, which was her career best finish in two seasons on the Ladies European Tour. England’s Kirsty S Taylor, playing with a knee injury, was fourth on nine-under, while Spain’s Paula Marti and Denmark’s Lisa Holm Sorensen shared fifth on eight-under-par.