The Aramco Team Series is a unique competition format in which three professional LET players compete alongside an amateur player, who play as a team to win the $1 million prize money (professional players only).
On a final day in which the wind once again wreaked havoc at La Reserva, a playoff was necessary after a birdie with a chip on the last hole, in a 54-hole tournament in which everything happened, including the heroics of the amateur players.
Team Buhai and the runner-up team of Linnea Strom, Jenny Haglund, Agathe Sauzon and amateur Alessandro Anzelmo finished the three-day tournament at 35 under par, forcing a playoff late in the afternoon.
Both captains led their respective teams in the playoff, but it was Ashleigh Buhai who overcame Strom’s bogey with a par to claim her second Aramco Team Series title of the Ladies European Tour season.
In closing, Buhai noted, “It has been a team effort. Each of us has played our part this week. As far as I’m concerned, it all evened out on the last 9 holes and I thought we had to keep going if we wanted to have a chance. Luckily, we made it.”
About his amateur teammate, Spaniard Ignacio Morillo, Buhai said: “Ignacio has been very good, he has done a great performance. He was a little nervous today, but he still showed up when we needed him the most”:
Compatriot Stacy Lee Bregman, who holed the decisive birdie on the 54th hole that forced a playoff, said: “I’ve been practicing [ese golpe]. I had a feeling I was going to need it at some point and I knew on the 18th hole it was the perfect shot. I had a feeling I was going to need it at some point and I knew on the 18th hole it was the perfect shot. I knew it was good as soon as I hit it and it was a magical moment. It seems unreal.”
Hayley Davis added, “It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been great playing with them.
We all played well as a team and each of us showed up when we needed it most. It’s been a great week.
As for the individual tournament, American star Alison Lee only had to shoot 71 strokes (1 under par) on the third day of the tournament to win her first professional title. After finishing the first two days with 65 strokes, Lee posted a cumulative score of 15 under par for the 54 holes to win her first professional title, 5 strokes ahead of South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai (-10).
“Honestly, I can’t describe in words how happy I am,” said Lee, who started the last day of the tournament with a 7-stroke lead. After finishing the tournament with a par and visibly excited, she said:
“I’m looking forward to calling my parents. The last three weeks I’ve been away from home, and I know they’ve been up all night watching me play, which is very comforting. I’ve been through a lot with golf. There have been times when I’ve thought about quitting, as I lost my card years ago and had to go back to Q-school. My parents have been very supportive and I’m looking forward to calling them.”
The 26-year-old also said: “Obviously, today I had a seven-stroke lead. I didn’t want to think too much about it and get ahead of myself. Today was another difficult day because of the wind, which was blowing stronger. But I did my best to concentrate on every shot, stay confident and not get down on myself. Also to make as many birdies as possible for the team, of course. Maybe I could have played much better today, but I am very happy with the result of the last day”.
When asked if she had ever questioned whether she was going to get a professional title, Lee added: “It gets to you. I’ve played with a lot of the girls here today since I was 15 or 16, and I think I’ve had a pretty good junior and college career, and there comes a time when you wonder, ‘When is it going to be my turn?’ You’re waiting for it to happen. Everybody here works hard, everybody wants to win, the competition is fierce, so there comes a time when you wonder when it’s going to happen.
“I would say that in the last few months I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’ve had great days, a lot of good holes, but for some reason, there was always a day where I missed a hole or made a mistake that took me away from the tournament. It’s been very frustrating: there have been tournaments where I’ve been in the top five and on the last day I’ve blown it all. But it has been a great experience and I have always been confident that everything was going to turn out well soon, that it was just a matter of overcoming and moving forward, trusting in myself and playing golf. I hope I can continue to do that in the future.”
Lee and Buhai were followed by Germany’s Karolin Lampert, with 7 under par, Australia’s Steph Kyriacou, with one more stroke, and England’s Charley Hull, with 5 under par.
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Young Ana Peláez makes her professional debut
As for the Spanish participation, it is worth mentioning the performance of the young Ana Pelaez, who has made her debut as a professional player this weekend, completing a magnificent performance. After signing two cards with 75 strokes the first two days, the young promise of Spanish women’s golf completed the final round of the tournament with a -1, placing her in the top 10 on the last day of the Aramco Team Series.
At the end of the tournament, he said: “The last day went very well. I finished my first round +2 and I was confident at all times that I was going to make it and in the end I finished with 4 birdies. I am very happy with my professional debut. Throughout this weekend I have learned a lot, both on and off the course and having my people here with me has been great. Now I am looking forward to playing many more tournaments and I hope to be up there soon playing for the title”.
The next Aramco Team Series will be the third of the season and will be held in New York from October 14-16.
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