Kirsten Rudgeley was denied a maiden Ladies European Tour in a playoff as fellow Golf Australia Rookie Squad member Hayden Hopewell recorded his second Challenge Tour top-five finish of the season.

As the Aussie trio of Adam Scott, Jason Day and Min Woo Lee went down to the US as part of the International Team contesting the Presidents Cup in Canada, the West Australian pair flew the Aussie flag in Europe.

Four shots back of Switzerland’s Chiari Tamburlini at the start of the third and final round, Rudgeley took advantage of the leader’s struggles with a back-nine surge to take the outright lead.

Boasting five top-five finishes in her two years on the LET to date, Rudgeley made birdies at 11, 12, 15 and 16 to apply the blowtorch to Tamburlini.

Winner of the Joburg Ladies Open earlier in the season, the Swiss rookie responded with a brilliant approach to set up birdie at the par-3 17th before making par at the last to match Rudgeley’s total of 7-under par.

The pair headed back to the 18th hole for the playoff where Tamburlini holed the winning putt after Rudgeley’s birdie try came up just short.

Tamburlini came within a whisker of winning in spectacular fashion when her approach shot at the playoff hole spun back past the hole before settling seven feet away.

Rudgeley did well to hit the green after pulling her drive left but with her birdie effort failing to get the full distance, Tamburlini was able to hole her putt for victory.

“It was way too stressful!” said Tamburlini.

“Kirsten played so well today, especially on the back nine. She really lit it up and it was tough for me to keep up.”

Rudgeley’s career-best finish elevates her to 10th on the LET Order of Merit and within reach of an LPGA Tour card that is awarded to the top four finishers at season’s end.

It was a strong week too for fellow Aussie Kelsey Bennett, who finished tied for seventh to enhance her chances of a full LET card in 2025.

Tied for seventh a week ago in Italy, Hopewell continued his strong form with a tie for fifth at the Swiss Challenge.

Rain forced the event to be reduced to just 36 holes, Hopewell picked up late birdies at 15 and 17 in a round of 3-under 69 to finish top five to finish five shots back of Scotsman Euan Walker.

Five birdies in her first seven holes set Grace Kim on a path to a final round of 5-under 66 to earn a tie for 12th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and Aaron Wilkin’s tie for 23rd was the best of the Aussies at the Yeangder TPC on the Asian Tour.

Results

Asian Tour Yeangder TPC Linkou International Golf and Country Club, Chinese Taipei 1 Suteepat Prateeptienchai 64-66-68-69—267 $US180,000 T23 Aaron Wilkin 72-68-71-68—279 $9,700 T40 Justin Warren 72-69-68-74—283 $5,618.75 T52 Brendan Jones 68-72-71-74—285 $3,820 T52 Maverick Antcliff 68-69-75-73—285 $3,820 T57 Travis Smyth 70-71-73-72—286 $3,250 T65 Andrew Dodt 69-70-73-76—288 $2,600 T65 Lachlan Barker 71-70-75-72—288 $2,600 T68 Harrison Crowe 70-71-72-76—289 $2,300 71 Jordan Zunic 66-72-75-77—290 $2,100 MC Kevin Yuan 69-73—142 MC Sam Brazel 75-69—144 MC Jed Morgan 70-74—144 MC Deyen Lawson 74-72—146 MC Jack Thompson 69-78—147 MC Todd Sinnott 76-72—148 MC Zach Murray 78-70—148

Presidents Cup Royal Montreal Golf Club, Montreal, Canada United States 18.5 def International 11.5 Sunday Singles Xander Schauffele def Jason Day 4&3 Sam Burns halved Tom Kim Hideki Matsuyama def Scottie Scheffler 1 up Russell Henley def Sungjae Im 3&2 Patrick Cantlay def Taylor Pendrith 3&1 Keegan Bradley def Si Woo Kim 1 up Corey Conners def Tony Finau 5&3 Min Woo Lee halved Wyndham Clark Byeong Hun An halved Sahith Theegala Collin Morikawa def Adam Scott 2&1 Christiaan Bezuidenhout def Brian Harman 2&1 Max Homa def Mackenzie Hughes 2&1

LPGA Tour Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Arkansas\ 1 Jasmine Suwannapura 63-72-61—196 Won on the second hole of sudden death playoff T12 Grace Kim 69-67-66—202 T27 Robyn Choi 68-68-69—205 T37 Stephanie Kyriacou 67-69-70—206 T44 Gabriela Ruffels 71-66-70—207 MC Hira Naveed 72-75—147

DP World Tour acciona Open de España Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 1 Angel Hidalgo 65-67-68-70—270 €494,861.54 Won in sudden death playoff T39 David Micheluzzi 71-69-71-71—282 €17,465.70 T45 Sam Jones (NZ) 69-71-70-73—283 €13,681.47 T57 Jason Scrivener 74-70-70-71—285 €9,169.49 T65 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 71-73-74-71—289 €6,986.28 MC Haydn Barron 75-73—148 MC Andrew Martin 77-76—153

Ladies European Tour Lacoste Ladies Open de France Golf Barriere, Deauville, France 1 Chiara Tamburlini 68-67-71—206 €56,250 Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff 2 Kirsten Rudgeley 66-73-67—206 €33,750 T7 Kelsey Bennett 71-71-68—210 €9,150 T52 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 73-74-72—219 €1,650 MC Whitney Hillier 70-79—149

Japan Golf Tour Vantelin Tokai Classic Miyoshi Country Club (West Cse), Aichi 1 Takahiro Hatachi 64-69-69-65—267 ¥22 million T62 Brad Kennedy 70-71-73-71—285 ¥249,700 MC Michael Hendry 75-71—146 MC Anthony Quayle 72-75—147

Challenge Tour Swiss Challenge Golf Saint Apollinaire, Folgensbourg, France Event reduced to 36 holes due to rain 1 Euan Walker 69-66—135 €32,400 T5 Hayden Hopewell 71-69—140 €7,593.75 MC Connor McKinney 79-82—161