With a total of 10 under par, Sweden's Linn Grant led the Ladies European Tour tournament. Three strokes behind was Morgane Métraux from Lausanne. In the direct duel between the two, the conditions did not change and both returned to the clubhouse with a 67. Grant thus won her second title of the season.

Morgane Métraux usually plays on the LPGA in America and started unspectacularly in Belgium with a par round. This makes her round of 65 or seven under par in round two particularly impressive. Of course she is very satisfied with this result. "Yesterday I didn't hole a single putt and today they just went in. That was the biggest difference."

The difference was already evident on the first hole: she sank the first birdie putt from about 7 meters. "That immediately gave me confidence and I could rely on my putting throughout the game. And on 14, I managed an eagle from 12 metres, which doesn't happen every day either." Métraux's only shot was unlucky on hole 18: "My drive had landed on the fairway, then took a very ugly kick to the left into a bush. I had to declare the ball unplayable. After a difficult time in the USA, this result gives me a big boost and I can't wait to get back on the course," said the Swiss player, delighted with her "good starting position".

"Linn Grant played really well, as did Cara Gainer. I needed a really low round to have a chance and I started pretty well. But it just wasn't my day," Métraux said immediately after the tournament in Belgium. "For that" it was the great day of the Englishwoman Gainer, with 8 under par still able to advance to second place. "So I have to settle for the podium, which is a very good performance in absolute terms. Especially because I played -12 in the last two rounds. You don't reach a level like that every week."

If the LPGA Tour player has anything to regret, it's the two holes on which she three-putted, the only bogeys of her round: "It's a bit annoying, but that doesn't change the satisfaction I take from this tournament, which wasn't even on my calendar at the beginning of the season. I return to Switzerland with renewed confidence."

Her sister Kim had already foregone a start in Belgium for some time, she will then play five tournaments in a row on the Ladies European Tour again from next week. At the Italy Ladies Open in Margara, the Métraux sisters could once again compete together. Thanks to her third place, Morgane is automatically qualified for the next stage of the European Tour.

Stefan Waldvogel

Article retrieved from www.swissgolf.ch