Dubliner Foster 'really proud' of Irish Open effort

Irish Examiner

6 days ago

Anna Foster tied for 12th behind runaway winner Lottie Woad in the KPMG Women's Irish Open but insisted she won't bid for her LPGA card this year.
The Elm Park rookie finished a whopping 13 shots behind world amateur number one Woad, who shot a four-under 69 to win by six shots from Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom (68) on 21-under at Carton House.
Foster closed with a one-under 72 alongside world number 19 Charley to finish on eight-under-par as 21-year-old Woad became the first amateur to win on the LET since 2022 and announce herself as a future superstar.
'I felt pretty comfortable all day,' said Woad, who was seven shots ahead overnight and never looked in danger after birdies at the second and fourth.
'I think as soon as I birdied the second hole, making a nice 12 footer there, that kind of settled me in and just hit a lot of good shots today.'
As for Foster, she was thrilled with her performance.
'I'm really happy with the week, really proud of myself with how I played today,' said the 23-year-old Dubliner, who believes she can now play with freedom after securing her card.
'It was new for me, playing in that type of group with Charley Hall.
'So I'm just happy in general with the week, with how I dealt with the pressure at the beginning of the week and managed to just keep in the present and focus on. what I needed to at the time.'
On her LET security, she said: 'It's nice to not have that looming over me now for the rest of the year.
'I can just pick and choose a few events that I want to play in. As I was saying yesterday, I've got a lot of freedom. You know, you're not worried about any of the stuff on the outside, really.'
Despite her rise in the professional game, Foster insisted she's not tempted to try for her LPGA Tour card later this year.
'No, that's not something that I'm looking at this year,' she said. 'I'm really happy with where I am on the LET.
'Pádraig Harrington had a little nugget where he said it's great to be a big fish in a little pond first before you decide to kind of jump to the LPGA.
'I think where I am now, I'm really happy, and I want to be up near the top of the leaderboard.
'I think the LET is really strong, and it's a great place to play. So not currently going to go this year, maybe next year, depending how I feel. Enjoyment is the main thing for me.' Another Irish rookie, Canice Screene, closed with a joint best of the day 66 to tie for 37th on two-under as a jaded Leona Maguire tied for 48th on level par after a 75.
'I'm just exhausted,' Maguire said after her fourth event on the spin. 'There was nothing left in the tank today, and drove it really nice, just a lot of poor iron shots.
'I'm not going to read much too much into it to be honest. It's been a long run, and it's been a very tiring week, so we'll dust ourselves off and go again next week.'
Foster's Elm Park clubmate, amateur Emma Fleming, was joint 54th on three-over after a final round 76.
'It definitely means a lot,' added Woad. "Obviously, I had a big lead coming in today, but I still to had to really focus as I was chased by some really good players. But yeah, happy to get it done.'