Three straight birdies to close out the second-round helped Isle of Man professional golfer Ana Dawson deliver her highest ever Ladies European Tour in the PIF London Championship, held at the Centurion Club near London last week.

Competing at the top level again, following a confidence-boosting top-five finish in her last event on the LET Access Tour, the Peel golfer carried this momentum from her dramatic finish to round two into the weekend.

The former QEII High School student fired a further two sub-par rounds to end the competition at four under par and tantalisingly close to her first ever LET top 20 finish.

Helped by having her sister, Lea - another US college level golfer - as her caddy, the Isle of Man professional produced a confident and assured performance across all four rounds, maintaining a steady but relentless climb up the leaderboard and improving her position every day.

Peel's Ana Dawson (right) had her sister - and fellow golfer - Lea caddying for her at the event near London (Photo: Ladies European Tour)
Peel's Ana Dawson (right) had her sister - and fellow golfer - Lea caddying for her at the event near London (Photo: Ladies European Tour) (Ladies European Tour)

The result was even more impressive given the strength of the field, which included several US-based LPGA players, including world number six Charley Hull.

Heading into the last day just outside the top 25 and sitting at one under par, Dawson played some stunning golf, carding five birdies and a final hole eagle to fire a final round of 70 to improve her position to 21st.

The result meant she proved to the golfing world that she is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with at the very highest level.

After back-to-back birdies on the 5th and 6th holes, two mighty shots into the long 9th set up a third birdie of the front nine, taking her to the turn in one under par.

A sand-save birdie on the 13th was offset by an unlucky bogey on 15th where her tee shot found the middle of a gorse bush, but stunning iron shots on the 16th and 18th, both to well inside six feet, left relatively little work to do with the putter as she closed out the week strongly.

'I played some really nice golf this week, and it was great to finish with an eagle on the last.'

The next stop is back to Europe and the VP Bank Ladies Swiss Open which starts today (Thursday), followed by a well-earned break at home in the island, before the final third of the season gets underway from mid-September.

With four events in Asia to follow in October and November, Dawson has the opportunity to keep planting the Manx flag on leaderboards across the globe and to test her game against the very best players in the world.

GRAEME GAULT

Three straight birdies at the end of her second-round helped Ana Dawson claim her best Ladies European Tour result so far
Three straight birdies at the end of her second-round helped Ana Dawson claim her best Ladies European Tour result so far (-)

PEEL GOLF

Chris Hawke produced the performance of the day to capture the prestigious Mylchreest Centenary Cup with an excellent nett 65 in a highly-competitive field of 115 at Peel Golf Club last Saturday.

Hawke's impressive round was enough to win by one single shot from Nick Gerrard on nett 66.

Jamie Crellin and Paul Ellison also posted nett 66s, with the final placings determined on countback.

Richard Gault recorded the best gross with a superb 72, underlining the high standard on display.

There was further success for Ste Caley whose excellent gross 73 earned him the senior championship as the leading competitor aged 55 and over.

The competition attracted a strong turnout of 115, with 14 twos recorded during the round. But the spotlight in the twos competition fell on Ruairi Mooney's remarkable eagle on the 16th.

Meanwhile, the women competed in a nine-hole Stableford on Saturday.

Pam Maitland won with an excellent 20 points, finishing ahead of Barbara Redford on 19, while Carole Sutherland took third with 17.

JOHN MARSHALL