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Alice Hewson Wins European Ladies' Amateur Championship

England's Alice Hewson has won the 2019 European Ladies' Amateur Championship at Parkstone Golf Club.

Heading into the final round seven shots off the pace and in a tie for 20th, the English player made six birdies and two eagles to card a 66 (-6), the lowest score of round four, and set the early club house lead on seven-under-par.

36-hole leader, Krista Junkkari, had a putt on the 18th green to get to eight-under-par, which would have sealed the title, but it lipped out forcing a three-hole playoff with Hewson.

After both players parred holes 1 and 2, Junkkari had a similar putt on the 18th green in front of a large crowd to win once again but it narrowly missed. Hewson two-putted for par forcing extra holes of sudden-death.

The Finnish player had a 20-foot putt on the first hole to win once more, but it slid by for a third time. She then put her tee shot on the par-3 second into the greenside bunker. Despite an excellent recovery shot, Junkkari missed the six-foot par putt, leaving Hewson with just a tap-in to claim the trophy on the fifth extra hole.

"It feels incredible, going into today I just went out there and tried to go as low as I could, I was brave out there and it really paid off" said Hewson. "I made a lot of birdies out there, I tried to be really brave, gave my putts a little bit extra, and took slightly braver lines."

The victory earns Hewson a spot in next week's AIG Women's British Open at Woburn. "It's going to be incredible, it's going to be my first ever major, so close to home, and winning here at home too, it's really special."

Junkkari will take home the silver medal as runner-up, while Italy's Caterina Don finished just one shot further back to claim the bronze medal.

The final groups struggled on the final day. All four players in the last two pairings, followed by large crowds on the southern English coast, shot two-over-par or higher.

Despite two holes-in-one on day three, the shot of the week went to Franziska Sliper. The Norwegian made an albatross two on the par-5 sixth on her way to a round of 68 (-4), which climbed her from 28th to finish fourth on her own.

The full results can be found on the championship webpage here.