Azahara Muñoz delighted the galleries as she retained her title at the Andalucia Costa del Sol Spanish Open at her home club, Real Club de Golf Guadalmina.
The 29 year old from the nearby village of San Pedro Alcantara, who had been winning tournaments at the club since the age of nine, carded rounds of 68, 64 67 and 69 to finish two strokes clear of Carlota Ciganda and Lee-Anne Pace and win with a total of 19 under par.
Muñoz began the final round tied for the lead with Ciganda and bogeyed the third hole, but quickly gained the outright lead when Ciganda double-bogeyed the fourth. The home favourite then made three straight birdies from the fifth to gain a four-stroke lead, before carding a second bogey at the 12th. She recovered a stroke at the long 14th, making a birdie putt of 30-feet and then made a final birdie on the par-5 17th.
The big move of the day came from the 2013 champion Pace, who eagled the last for a 67, before Ciganda also eagled the hole for a 71 and a share of second.
Muñoz said: “I couldn’t be any happier, defending my title on my home course and where I grew up. It’s been an amazing week, and all the fans were here supporting me, so I’m happy I did it for them. I’ve been playing so well all week and today I didn’t play my best, especially on the back nine, but shooting eight under always helps. I made some amazing up and downs on the back nine, so that was definitely the key.”
England’s Georgia Hall slipped back into fourth place after closing out with a 69. Her hopes of a win were eroded with two early bogeys, and although she eagled the seventh and birdied the eighth, two further dropped shots on the 12th and 14th stopped her challenge in her tracks. To her credit, she birdied four of the last five holes to achieve a strong finish.
Hall said: “I had quite a poor weekend really and didn’t play that well, but fourth’s fourth. I wanted to try and win this week, but I was in between clubs here and there. My putting has been generally pretty good this week, but my pitching has been my weakness, so I’ll work on that for the next event.”