Golf: Record prize and a place among elite for Neumann

A SWEDE won the British Women's Open for a second time at Woburn yesterday when Liselotte Neumann stood firm with a closing round of 72 for a 12-under-par aggregate of 280 to finish three strokes clear of her compatriot Annika Sorenstam and the American Dottie Mochrie.

Neumann collected a first prize of pounds 52,500 - a record for women's golf in Europe. Britain's Laura Davies had a round of 71 to share fourth place on 284 with Australia's Corinne Dibnah. 'I had trouble with a couple of three-putts, but I kept an eye on the leaderboards and no one was making a move,' Neumann said.

Neumann joins an elite group of five players who have won both the British and US titles. 'It is hard to say if this is a better win than when I won the American Open in 1988 but I am certainly a better player now,' she said.

Neumann had started the day three strokes clear and retained her lead when she went out in 34 after Sorenstam had turned in 32. Neumann three-putted the 12th but moved four ahead when she holed from 10 feet for a birdie at the 13th, before chipping in from 45 feet for another birdie at the next. This gave her a cushion for bogeys at the 15th and 16th, completing a 13th career victory with a birdie at the long 18th.

WEETABIX BRITISH WOMEN'S OPEN (Woburn): Leading final scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 280 L Neumann (Swe) 71 67 70 72. 283 D Mochrie (US) 73 66 74 70; A Sorenstam (Swe) 69 75 69 70. 284 L Davies 74 66 73 71; C Dibnah (Aus) 75 70 67 72. 285 C Figg-Currier (US) 69 74 68 74. 286 H Alfredsson (Swe) 71 76 71 68. 287 T Hanson (US) 74 73 66 74. 288 C Pierce 70 75 71 72; V Skinner (US) 77 71 66 74; S Strudwick 71 71 71 75. 289 H Kobayashi (Japan) 73 73 69 74. 290 S Gautrey (Aus) 69 74 72 75. 291 M McGuire (NZ) 71 73 78 69; P Grice-Whittaker 77 72 72 70; T Abitbol (Sp) 76 68 75 72. 292 E Knuth (Sp) 78 69 72 73; J Geddes (US) 74 72 72 74; Li W-L (Thai) 73 70 73 76; S Gronberg-Whitmore (Swe) 71 69 74 78. 293 P Wright 68 75 78 72; K Pearce (Aus) 70 74 75 74; K Tschetter (US) 68 76 75 74.