Caroline Hedwall makes her winning putt |
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Costa del Sol Open de España - Day Four
Caroline Hedwall wins the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España 2022 in a gruelling playoff .
The Swedish player has won the tournament that has closed the season on the Ladies European Tour after defeating the Swiss Morgane Metraux. The sensation of the week, the amateur Cayetana Fernandez finished in a magnificent fifth place.
There was much talk about the Swedish duel for the Race to Costa del Sol in the run up to the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, between Lynn Grant and Maja Stark, with Lynn emerging victorious, but in the end, however it was another Nordic player, Caroline Hedwall, who stole the spotlight with a great victory after defeating Sweden's Morgane Metraux in a playoff play-off after both finished tied on 274 strokes (-18) on the final day.
Before that, the winner of the Race to Costa del Sol, Linn Grant, played a great round of 66 strokes (-8) for a total of 275 strokes (-17) which forced Maja who was playing behind, to make at least one more birdie than her. Both succeeded, so they were forced into a playoff that took four holes to decide the Race to Costa del Sol winner.
This victory at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España is the seventh for Caroline Hedwal, the 33 year old, originally from Täby but now living in Stockholm had not won a trophy since 2018. "It's an unbelievable feeling, it feels like I've been waiting for this win forever. I wasn't sure I was going to get it, and it's been a huge joy to get this win," said the four-time European Solheim Cup team player.
"It's been a rollercoaster to be honest, I had an injury in 2014 which was really tough for me and I had a big dip in self-esteem. The 2018 win meant a lot to me. Then it was tough during Covid-19, I didn't want to travel so much, but now I'm more or less back to normal and I feel really good. My game is in the right place and it was amazing to finish the season winning this prestigious tournament," said the Swedish player.
The best Spanish player of the tournament was the amateur Cayetana Fernández, the real sensation of the week for her top-level golf during the four days, although each of them was different, as "the first two days I played very solid and the other two I played with grit, but in short, it was a hard-fought round, my performance exceeded my expectations and I am very happy with the final result", she Cayetana explained.