Lee-Anne Pace had an eventful back nine on Sunday as she held on to a spot inside the top 20 in the ISPA Handa World Invitational with a closing level-par 73 at Galgorm Castle in Country Antrin, Northern Ireland.
Pace, who had started the day with a birdie on the first, turned in level-par after making bogey on six. Birdies on 10 and 12 got her going in the right direction, but she was like a yo-yo on her way home with consecutive bogeys on 13 and 14 followed by a birdie on 15, and then consecutive bogeys once again on 16 and 17 before she closed things out with a birdie on 18.
That left her at eight-under for the tournament, in a share of 16th. In the end, that was a long way back from the superb win of Sweden’s Maja Stark, who carded a stunning bogey-free course-record 10-under 63 to win by five.
After winning the event co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour, Stark officially accepted LPGA Tour Membership and will become a rookie for the rest of 2022.
“It means the world. That was all I came here for,” she said. “I just wanted that winner’s category. I was so nervous. I hate qualifying and going to Q-Series, it’s great that I don’t have to do that again.
“I’ve been dreaming about playing on the LPGA Tour for a long time. It’s just been so frustrating when you feel like maybe you could play there, but it feels like the road is so long and with Q-School – if you have a bad week you’re out, and then you have got to wait another year. It’s really nice to just skip that part and just go ahead to the fun stuff.”
She already leads the Race to Costa del Sol on the LET, while Pace is in seventh place after her weekend performance.
