Lorraine Kelly
The PIF London Championship served up a double helping of drama on Saturday — Laura Fuenfstueck coolly protected a three-shot lead in the individual race, while Danielle du Toit produced the sort of plot twist that makes tournament organisers spill their tea.
Germany’s Fuenfstueck, playing with the poise of a woman who’s read the ending of the book, posted a tidy 3-under-par 70 at Centurion Club to reach 9-under. That leaves her three clear of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (72) and a pair of fast movers, Belgium’s Manon De Roey and France’s Perrine Delacour, who both lit up the leaderboard with 67s in this Golf Saudi-backed event.
But while Fuenfstueck’s day was a lesson in composure — even after bogeys at 15 and 17 briefly invited the field to join the party — the real headline act came in the team event. Enter Du Toit, a South African who, 72 hours earlier, wasn’t even in the field.
She’d withdrawn midweek from a tournament in Sweden after learning she was first reserve at Centurion. Then, late Thursday night, the call came — Charley Hull, the home favourite, was out with injury, and Du Toit was in.
“So I withdrew from the tournament. Then the following day, I got on a plane, and when I landed at Heathrow, I got the call saying I’m now in the tournament. I played no practice round. I have never seen this course. I played completely blind. I am here,” Du Toit told the world’s media, still sounding slightly stunned.
From blind debut to team champion in 36 holes, Du Toit closed with back-to-back birdies to clinch a one-shot victory over the teams led by Georgia Hall and Chiara Tamburlini. Her crew was a walking advert for resilience: Australian Sarah Kemp, just a year removed from a broken leg in a golf cart accident; rookie Megan Dennis, a graduate of the Aramco Power-Up initiative; and Spain’s Marta Sanz Barrio, who finished 1-under and was the only player to eagle the 18th on Saturday.
While Du Toit’s team celebrated their smash-and-grab, Fuenfstueck quietly repaired the back-nine wobble that saw her lead trimmed. Three birdies in four holes before the turn gave her breathing space, but it was the closing birdie at 18 — after those two late bogeys — that reasserted her authority heading into Sunday.
“I just want to play good golf, that will be my goal tomorrow, put good swings on and see where that takes me at the end of the day,” she said. “I’m sure we are going to have some big crowds tomorrow so I’m really excited to be in that position again.”
Ciganda, a Golf Saudi ambassador and eternal crowd favourite, knows she’s got work to do. “I had a lot of chances, but didn’t make enough putts,” she said. “I think we have a chance to win. I like the course, it’s a fun course to play, and I think you can even go lower. There are some opportunities. Make a few putts tomorrow, and hopefully that’s good enough to win.”
Saturday brought another bumper crowd to Centurion, with warm sunshine, a bit of a breeze, and Golf Saudi’s off-course activities keeping hundreds of local children and families smiling. This third stop on the PIF Global Series continues to blend top-class competition with its mission of empowering women golfers and introducing the sport to fresh audiences around the world.
Sunday promises even more heat — both meteorological and competitive — as the PIF London Championship builds to a finale that already feels like it’s been scripted for prime time.
