County Meath, Ireland (Sports Network) - Catriona Matthew carded her second
straight 71 Sunday to beat last year's winner Suzann Pettersen by a single
stroke at the Ladies Irish Open.
Matthew finished at 7-under-par 209 for her fourth Ladies European Tour title.
Pettersen posted her second straight 3-under 69 to take second at minus-6,
while Laura Davies closed with a 68 to end alone in third at 3-under-par 213.
The event was contested at Killeen Castle, which hosted the 2001 Solheim Cup,
where the top three players on the leaderboard were teammates on the
victorious European squad.
Matthew had two bogeys and three birdies through eight holes. She turned at
minus-7. Matthew bogeyed the 14th, but came right back with a birdie on 15. At
the 17th, Matthew converted a birdie try, but tripped to a bogey at the last
to win by one.
Pettersen bogeyed the sixth and 10th, but in between had run off three
straight birdies. She had three birdies in four holes from the 13th to close
the gap, but stumbled to a bogey on 17.
Nikki Garrett (70), Joanna Klatten (70) and Pernilla Lindberg (75) shared
fourth place at 1-under-par 215.
The Sports Network