It’s Open house for Trish - 09.07.2010

ENGLISH golfer Trish Johnson captured her 19th career victory as she edged France’s Virginie Lagoutte-Clement by a shot in the Tenerife Ladies Open last Sunday.

The 44-year-old from Bristol started the final round with a three-shot lead, and fired a 70 on the Buenavista course at Adeje for a 14-under 274.
It was her first win since the 2007 BMW Ladies Italian Open, following a tie for second at the previous week’s Portugal Ladies Open.
Victory earned her a 16th title on the Ladies European Tour, and a delighted Trish said: “It’s fantastic, but I didn’t really enjoy the day.
“For the first five or six holes, I played great from tee to green, but my putting was very suspect and I was just trying to trust it. I was pretty lucky, because I played the back nine so badly after going out in level par.”
Johnson had two pars on the 16th and 17th holes for a two-stroke lead over Lagoutte-Clement, who had a chance to tie the match up with an eagle putt at the par-five last, but her ball slipped past the hole.
Despite hitting her tee shot into a fairway bunker, Johnson holed a six-footer for par and took the 41,250-euro first prize. Third was another French woman, Anne-Lise Caudal, one stroke behind her compatriot.
 “They say it’s the luckiest one who wins, and that was me today,” said Johnson, who completed only her sixth match on the Tour this year.
The veteran golfer took the first four months of 2010 off after suffering tendinitis in both elbows.
“In 23 or 24 years, I don’t think I’ve ever had that amount of time off, certainly not out of choice, and perhaps it’s not a bad thing at this stage of my career to have a bit of rest,” she added.
Two other English players, Melissa Reid and Florentyna Parker, finished seventh and 14th respectively.