South Africa’s Casandra Alexander held her nerve to lift the Jabra Ladies Classic trophy for the second time in her career and become the first multiple winner of this Sunshine Ladies Tour title since 2019.
Alexander went into the final day with a two-shot lead after bettering the women’s course record during the second round, and closed with a 67 to win by four shots on 14 under par.
Scotland’s Lorna McClymont finished second on 10 under par with a final round of 68.
Alexander birdied the 1st but then made back-to-back bogeys on holes 3 and 4, which opened the door for Scotland’s McClymont.
Alexander added two more birdies on the front nine to turn one under for the day. And then she shut the door with four birdies on the back nine.
“It really wasn’t a nervous start,” she said. “I mean, I started with a birdie on the 1st. After those bogeys, my caddie and I said let’s just hit some fairways and greens, and not into positions that make extra work for us, and steady the ship a little. The back nine I knew I had to fire because Lorna was coming in hot.”
With her two birdies on the par-four 12th and par-five 13th, things started to look good for Alexander on the back nine, although an eagle on the 13th from McClymont kept the pressure on her.
“She just wouldn’t quit. She chipped in for eagle and I was in the bunker. Luckily, I still made birdie to keep everything tight, but she definitely wasn’t giving up.”
With back-to-back birdies on the par-five 16th and par-three 17th for Alexander, and a bogey for McClymont on the 16th, the South African could almost smell victory.
“I said to myself, just stay patient, they’ll come when they need to, and then on the 16th she was chipping just off the green for birdie and I hit it on with a three wood and had an eagle putt. She didn’t up-and-down and I secured the birdie.
“Going into the 17th, the wind pushed it a little. It almost landed in the hole and I had a three-foot putt for birdie, and that was the end of it.”
First round leader Kaiyuree Moodley and France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora finished joint third on six under par, both shooting 68 on the final day.
Alexander is now looking forward to the next tournament on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, the SuperSport Ladies Challenge that will take place from 5-7 March at Sun City.
“I’ve won there a few times before. I know the course like the back of my hand, so I’m definitely going in there with a nice positive and confident attitude. I’m really looking forward to Sun City.”
Photo: Sunshine Ladies Tour
