Stephanie Meadow is Perfect Winner of Historic Event at Galgorm Castle
By: Golfshake Editor | Mon 19 Aug 2019
It was a dramatic and historic final day at Galgorm Castle Golf Club with local favourite Stephanie Meadow and England's Jack Senior winning the respective women's and men's titles at the inaugural ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women, Presented by Modest! Golf Management.
27-year-old Meadow, who is competing regularly on the LPGA Tour, saw off the formidable challenge of Solheim Cup player Charley Hull to win on home soil. The Englishwoman had made a charge with a final round of 69, but it was the Northern Irish star who held her nerve to claim victory by one shot.
“It’s unbelievable to win here really. I’m so excited and honoured as well. I want to thank ISPS Handa and Modest! for giving me the opportunity to come home and compete at home – and win at home! It’s very, very special," Meadow said afterwards.
“I watched a few of the leaderboards out there and I knew a couple of the other girls were close, but not really close enough, but when Charley hit that three-wood to six feet on 18, it was an unreal shot and she’s an unreal player but luckily I was able to hit a nice one in there as well. She didn’t make the putt but it was a great run at me. She definitely gave me a run for my money.”
It wasn’t a dream ????#WorldInvitational pic.twitter.com/uXH4JjXOiw
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) August 19, 2019
As for Senior, the 31-year-old overcame compatriot Matthew Baldwin in a playoff to win his second Challenge Tour event, with both players having lit the course up with rounds of 67 and 64 respectively.
This triumph moves Senior up to 11th in the rankings, with the top 15 receiving European Tour cards for next season.
He said to the European Tour website: “It’s great to get it over the line. I’ve been close a couple of times this year but to finally get it done means a lot. I’d like to say thank you to ISPS Handa and the Modest! guys – they’ve done a great job again of running this golf tournament.
“I’ve been in three play-offs before and won all three, so keep the play-offs coming I say! You should feel a bit relaxed coming into a play-off because no matter what happens, you’ve still had a really good week so it takes the pressure off a little bit.
“I’m a big leaderboard watcher so I knew what I needed to do coming down the last. I think when I know what I need to do, I play my best golf.
“I’ve been mixed between the European Tour and Challenge Tour this year and it’s always difficult to make a decision on what to do. I had the opportunity to go and play in Prague this week but I said at the start of the season that August was going to be crunch time for me in terms of what Tour to play on.
“I feel like I’ve made the right decision this week with getting the win and no matter what level you win at, it’s always great to do it.”
????? The final day action from @GalgormCastle as @JSenior88 & @StephMeadow20 etched their names into the history books #WorldInvitational pic.twitter.com/rBQpsi6pbK
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) August 18, 2019
What made this event special was that it represented a first for golf on European soil; the two tournaments being played on the same course for the same prize money, reminiscent of the Jordan Mixed Open that was introduced in April. Niall Horan and his Modest! group may have just paved the way to an exciting future for the game that began at Galgorm Castle.
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Tags: PGA Tour LET Ladies European Tour
