Nocera wins Göteborg Masters with best score in LET history

Gwladys Nocera from France won her ninth Ladies European Tour title since May 2006 with a record breaking performance at the Göteborg Masters in Sweden.

The 33-year-old sixth year tour player sealed her fourth title of the year with the best 72-hole score in the LET s 30-year history. She finished with a six-under 66 at Lycke Golf Club to close the tournament at 29-under-par 259.

It feels good! said Nocera who broke Laura Davies previous record in relation to par of 25-under 267, set at the 1995 Guardian Irish Holidays Open at St Margaret s. The raw score of 267 had also been recorded by Davies at the 1988 Biarritz Ladies Open and by Juli Inkster at the 2003 Evian Masters.

I really didn t think I could shoot that low when I came here. It s probably much better than I expected.

The current European no.2 began the final round with an eight stroke lead over Spain s Paula Marti but stretched that into an 11 shot victory over Nina Reis of Sweden.

Reis, a 28-year-old from the nearby town of Kungalv, fired an 11-under-par 61 and tied the record for the LET s all time lowest round set by England s Kirsty Taylor at the 2005 Wales Ladies Championship of Europe at Machynys Peninsula.

Reis was 12-under-par for the day after 17 holes and a score of 59 looked possible, but she bogeyed the last to drop back to 18-under-par 270 for second place, he r career best finish on the LET.

When asked if thoughts of a 59 were on her mind standing on the 18th tee Reis admitted: I thought about it but I also thought that I just wanted to make par and have a good tournament that was the most important thing.

I was a little bit shaky but I just wanted to hit a good shot and I thought If I hit the bunker I will just chip out. That was what happened. On the 18th, Reis hit her driver into a bunker and as she tried to chip it out it hit the edge, just landing on the grass.

Reis s round included three eagles, at the seventh, 11th and 17th holes, seven birdies and two bogeys. She had previously posted three birdies in a round at the Safeway Classic in Portland on the LPGA Tour in 2006. Her previous best round was 64 set on the US based Cactus Tour in April and matched at the HyproVereinsbank Ladies German Open in May.

England s Felicity Johnson finished a shot further back in third on 17-under after a final round of 68. She dropped a shot at the par-four 18th but matched her previous career best finishes of third at the 2007 Northern Ireland Ladies Open and in February s ANZ Ladies Masters.

I would have taken it at the start of the week so this has given me a lot of confidence for the last two events. I m chuffed to bits with it really, said second year player Johnson. This has given me some confidence for France and Madrid and hopefully I will go a step further next time.

Nocera s three birdies in a row from the second hole, followed by a bogey on the fifth hole, gave her an outward total of two-under 34 and a nine stroke lead heading into the back nine. A 30-foot birdie putt at the 10th took her to 26-under, and made the back nine a breeze with further birdies on holes 12, 16 and 17. She had a 20 foot birdie chance to reach 30-under at the par-four 18th but two putted for par.

When the ball dropped No cera s French colleagues stormed onto the green and soaked her in celebratory champagne.

It is funny because on the fairway I said to my caddie Raf, It would be fun to have champagne today because it s my fourth one, said Nocera, such has become the French tradition on tour.

Nocera will now head to the Vediorbis Open de France Dames at Anzin St. Aubin in northern France, where she is hoping to win on home soil.

Goteborg Masters Lycke Golf Course 18th - 21st September 2008 Final Scoreboard

259 - Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 66 62 65 66

270 - Nina Reis (SWE) 69 67 73 61

271 - Felicity Johnson (ENG) 62 70 71 68

272 - Amy Yang (KOR) 69 68 70 65, Paula Marti (ESP) 64 66 71 71

273 - Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 71 69 67 66

274 - Samantha Head (ENG) 71 69 70 64, Sophie Gustafson (SWE) 69 71 64 70, Marta Prieto (ESP) 66 69 68 71

275 - Laura Davies (ENG) 70 70 71 64, Lisa Hall (ENG) 69 72 66 68

276 - Johanna Westerberg (SWE) 68 70 67 71, Julie Tvede (DEN) 70 66 68 72

277 - Carin Koch (SWE) 69 72 67 69, Lora Fairclough (ENG) 67 68 72 70, Georgina Simpson (ENG) 70 65 71 71

278 - Lotta Wahlin (SWE) 68 74 72 64, Frances Bondad (AUS) 69 71 72 66, Anja Monke (GER) 66 74 69 69, Jade Schaeffer (FRA) 68 66 72 72

279 - Lena Tornevall (SWE) 65 72 67 75

280 - Lisa Holm Sorensen (DEN) 72 67 74 67

281 - Karen Lunn (AUS) 69 72 71 69, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 66 71 74 70, Christine Hallstrom (SWE) 70 73 67 71

282 - Cissi Wahlberg (SWE) 70 72 72 68, Cecilia Ekelundh (SWE) 70 72 72 68, Cherie Byrnes (AUS) 72 71 71 68, Mianne Bagger (DEN) 72 69 72 69, Joanne Mills (AUS) 72 70 71 69, Cassandra Kirkland (FRA) 72 71 70 69, Diana Luna (ITA) 68 70 74 70, Anna Knutsson (SWE) 72 69 69 72, Mette Buus (DEN) 71 71 68 72

283 - Emma Zackrisson (SWE) 69 73 72 69, Sophie Walker (ENG) 71 71 70 71, Lee-Anne Pace (SA) 70 72 69 72

284 - Marina Arruti (ESP) 71 69 73 71, Sofia Johansson (SWE) 69 74 70 71, Stefania Croce (ITA) 69 72 71 72, Nikki Garrett (AUS) 68 72 71 73

285 - Anna Rossi (ITA) 68 72 70 75

286 - Zuzana Masinova (CR) 71 70 74 71, Rebecca Coakley (IRE) 67 72 74 73, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 68 73 71 74, Sarah Nicholson (NZ) 68 69 74 75

287 - Lynn Kenny (SCO) 68 72 74 73, Leah Hart (AUS) 69 73 70 75

288 - Sanna Johansson (SWE) 67 76 75 70, Laura Cabanillas (ESP) 67 76 74 71, Lara Tadiotto (BEL) 73 67 76 72, Hanna-Leena Salonen (FIN) 69 71 73 75, Kaisa Ruuttila (FIN) 70 72 71 75

289 - Helena Alterby (SWE) 73 69 69 78

290 - Dana Lacey (AUS) 70 71 71 78

293 - Eva Bjarvall (SWE) 70 71 75 77, Louise Larsson (Am) (SWE) 75 68 73 77, Zuzana Kamasova (SVK) 70 73 73 77, Sofia Renell (SWE) 72 67 76 78

295 - Ludivine Kreutz (FRA) 71 72 79 73

296 - Anne Norman Hansen (DEN) 72 71 80 73

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