England’s Gemma Clews clinched her first LET Access Series victory in dramatic style with a play-off victory at the Smorum Ladies Open in Denmark.
Trailing by five shots prior to the final round at Smorum Golf Club in Copenhagen, the 28-year-old from Manchester fired a closing four-under 68, which included three birdies on the back nine, to take Sweden’s Corrinne Viden and Nathalie Borg to sudden death.
The play-off was short-lived, however, as Borg found trouble in the trees off the tee and Viden could only manage a bogey, leaving Clews to calmly two-putt for victory from close range to win her second professional title and her first since winning on the Rose Ladies Series in 2021.
“I’m feeling amazing to get my first LET Access win,” said Clews, who turned professional in 2021. “In the playoff I tried to stick to what I’ve done the last couple of days. The 18th hole is a par four which gives you options, because you can go for the green with driver or you can lay up and wedge it on. I made birdie on it in the final round, so I knew I was going to commit to it and try and make a birdie.”
Clews was accompanied by fellow England player Sharna Dutrieux on the bag during the final round after she had to withdraw from the tournament at the beginning of the week due to injury. “Massive shout out to Sharna on the bag today, she kept me calm and relaxed, and it was great to have someone to chat to all day,” added Clews.
Speaking about how much this win means, Clews said: “Any win at any point in the season is big because you can get so many points from it. It’s nice to get this in the middle of the season. Hopefully this win will give me some momentum for the next few events.”
Victory took Clews up to second on the LETAS Order of Merit behind runaway leader Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen, who has won twice and finished second three times in just eight starts. The top six players earn promotion to the Ladies European Tour at the end of the season.
The season features 17 events, with the next tournament, the tenth, being the Big Green Egg Swedish Open at Varbergs Golf Klubb from August 9-11.