Murcar Links member Jasmine Mackintosh claimed the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open Championship at Royal Troon on Sunday with a 2-over total of 218 to keep the trophy on home soil after the success of Grace Crawford 12 months ago.
Mackintosh had set the first-round pace with a 3-under 69 at the Portland course, but with a Saturday 77 she slipped into a share of fourth behind the 36-hole co-leaders Lorna McClymont, a fellow Scot and recent winner of the R&A’s Student Tour Order of Merit, and Sweden’s Elin Pudas Remler.
The final round is played on the Open rota course, and an already exacting test was made tougher in blustery conditions. McClymont was 2-under for the day through 12 holes whereupon the mood at the top of the leaderboard changed swiftly: she dropped four shots in the closing six holes, and Mackintosh headed in the opposite direction with three back-nine birdies. A bogey at the 18th for a level-par 72 initially appeared costly for the eventual winner before she redeemed herself in extra holes. Pudas Remler shared third, two shots shy of the playoff, alongside another Scot, Jennifer Saxton, and England’s Alice Barlow.
Mackintosh added her name to those of Linn Grant, Leona Maguire, Melissa Reid and Pia Babnik on the championship’s honours board, and she will hope to further emulate them in becoming a winner at the LET/LPGA level in the future.
Off the course, Catriona Matthew was made an honorary member of Royal Troon in recognition of a career during which she won the 2009 Women’s British Open and participated in 11 Solheim Cups (nine as a player, two as a winning captain). She also will lead the GB&I team in the 2024 Curtis Cup.
RESULTS
Matt Cooper