England’s Melissa Reid gave herself an early 24thbirthday present by nailing her third Ladies European Tour victory at the Open de España Femenino.
The 23-year-old, who celebrates her birthday on Monday, fired a two under par 70 at La Quinta Golf Resort in the Costa del Sol on Sunday to end eight under, one stroke clear of Lee-Anne Pace, Tania Elosegui and overnight leader Beth Allen.
It was Reid’s second win this season, following victory at the Deloitte Ladies Open in the Netherlands and she will be full of confidence as she heads straight to The Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle in Ireland.
“It’s my second win of the season which is obviously nice preparation before Solheim Cup. It’s let me know the things I need to sharpen up next week but all in all I’m happy with the way I’m swinging it so I’m a happy, happy girl,” Reid said after the win.
“I’m going to have a few beers on the plane but I think I’m pretty much going to go straight to bed. Its Solheim week, so it’s a big week and it’s going to be a tiring week, so not too many celebrations”
A par on the 18th was enough to seal the win after Pace bogeyed the hole and Reid added: “I didn’t think Pacey would three-putt the 18th so I did think going into the 18th that I would need to birdie it to win, so in the back of my mind I was thinking it was going to be a playoff but it was nice that a par was good enough to win.”
South African Pace settled for joint second after a round of 71 and she said: “Obviously I’m quite disappointed I three-putted three times coming down the stretch unfortunately. I still played really well and hit 17 greens. I was really fired up actually and I just left a couple out there but well done to Mel.
She said that she misjudged the speed of the last green. “I thought it would be quicker actually and I spoke to the local pro afterwards and he said coming this way on the green it would be slow because it was way downhill so I left it short and a tricky left edge downhill putt and I just missed it.”
Second round leader Elosegui finished well with a 69, while Allen held her own with a 68 in hot conditions.
Reid will now head straight to Killeen Castle in Dunsany, Co Meath and hopes to get some light practice in on Monday ahead of the biennial clash against the Americans.