MEGHAN MacLaren is looking to join some exclusive company in the Women’s NSW Open at Dubbo Golf Club.
In her lifetime, only three players have won the same Ladies European Tour event three times in a row.
Karrie Webb did it at the ANZ Ladies Masters. Annika Sorenstam did it in the Swedish Open and Shanshan Feng won three in a row at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, from 2014-16.
Northamptonshire’s MacLaren will get the chance this week – and with the distinction of it being on a third different golf course.
She won her first LET title at Coffs Harbour Golf Club in 2018 and defended the title last year at Queanbeyan Golf Club – as the only player to record four sub-par rounds, to win her second title.
MacLaren doesn’t expect it to get any easier at Dubbo, but feels her accuracy off the tee could be an advantage on the tight, tree-lined fairways.
“I think that everyone’s fairway stats might take a dip this week, but from what I’ve seen, it suits the strengths of my game,” said the 25-year-old from Wellingboro, who finished tied for 24th in last week’s Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville.
MacLaren added: “You need to hit it on as many fairways as you can because it’s so narrow. If you can put it in position, then you’ll be ahead of the game, I think.
“I played well last week, apart from in the last round. I saw some signs in the first three rounds that I’ve been looking for since I came out to Australia and I feel in a pretty good place now.
“I trust in my game and I trust what I’m doing. I feel like my putting has turned a corner and I got a new putter just over a week ago.”
“As a golfer, you have to treat it as just another golf tournament and prepare as well as you can to bring your best golf.
“There probably won’t be too many times in my career that I’ll have a chance to go for three in a row. So I’m just going to enjoy it and see what happens.”
Kyriacou turns pro after victory
TEEN star Steph Kyriacou has turned professional and joined the Ladies European Tour ahead of this week’s Women’s New South Wales Open at Dubbo Golf Club.
The 19-year-old from Sydney earned a two-year exemption on the LET with her stunning victory in the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville Golf Resort, on Sunday.
Kyriacou blitzed the field to win by eight strokes. She has since climbed 547 spots on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, moving up to No. 287, which gives her additional confidence heading into this week’s event.
“I’m so happy to announce that I’m turning professional,” said Kyriacou, whose father Nick was on the bag for her big win – and who has guided her through the tough decisions that were made on Monday as the enormity of the victory sank in.
“I’ll be playing my first event as a pro this week in Dubbo, so it’s very exciting,” added Kyriacou.
“It’s been very, very crazy. I’ve had so many messages and missed phone calls. I’ve had emails from I don’t even know whom.
“I’ve had all these big decisions to make and everything has happened so quickly.
“It wasn’t a hard decision to make. I did weigh up all the options but I was hoping to turn pro at the end of the year anyway – and this has opened up a few more doors and moved the goal post a bit.”
•To follow live scoring in the Women’s New South Wales Open click here.
