Hamburg, Germany: Shannon Tan staved off the challenge of former Patsy Hankins Trophy adversary Helen Briem to capture her second Ladies European Tour (LET) title after a tense final day at the Amundi German Masters.
In testing, windy conditions on the North Course at Green Eagle Golf Course, Singaporean Tan holed a three-foot par-putt on the final green to eke out a one-stroke triumph from her German rival.
It was in 2023 when Tan and Briem crossed swords for the first time while representing the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and European Golf Association (EGA) respectively in the Solheim Cup-style Patsy Hankins Trophy in Spain.
On that occasion it was Briem who came out on top, helping the EGA team to victory at La Manga Resort.
Some 22 months later, though, it was Tan who took top honours. Despite a closing three-over 76, Tan’s 72-hole total of nine-under 283 was just good enough to deny Briem.
“It means a lot to win, especially after being in contention the past few weeks and not being able to close out in the last round. That definitely hurt,” said Tan, runner-up individually in the 2023 Queen Sirikit Cup at Laguna National Golf Resort Club in Singapore.
Tan, who won a China LPGA Tour event at Laguna National while still an amateur, said she had to dig deep to get across the line in Germany, relying on a sharp short-game.
She said: “I missed a few greens on the front nine. But the work that I put in last week when I saw my coach paid off. We did a lot of short game, and also changed the shafts on my wedges.
“Although I was missing the greens, most of them I was missing in the right spots. That definitely helped. It was quite windy out there, but if it’s windy for me then it’s windy for everyone else. I just went out there and controlled the controllables. That’s all I could do.
“I only knew the situation when I was walking up on 18. I looked at the leaderboard and knew I had to two-putt it. That’s the only time I looked at a leaderboard. The birdie putt definitely had a chance. I hit it two or three feet past but it had a chance considering it was 11 paces downhill.”
Tan, who led overnight, opened the final round with eight pars before making back-to-back bogeys on the ninth and 10th holes.
A birdie on 11 put the Olympian back to a three-shot advantage over Briem, who was playing in the group in front. However, further bogeys on 13 and 17 saw Tan’s lead trimmed to one shot with one hole to play, Briem holding the clubhouse lead on eight-under.
After making it onto the 18th green in regulation, Tan rolled her birdie putt three feet past the cup but made no mistake with the one coming back.
Tan’s maiden victory came on her LET debut at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open at the start of the 2024 season. This year’s she missed just one from 11 starts and her latest win has seen her rise to third in the LET Order of Merit standings.
Meanwhile, two other members of the APGC’s 2023 Patsy Hankins Trophy team also produced encouraging performances in Germany.
Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard tied for 14th on even-par 292, while Indian Avani Prashanth ended in a share of 26th place on 294.
