Bondad lifts first trophy on last hole

The 23-year-old, who trailed overnight leader Pan Yan Hong by two strokes in joint third spot at the start of the day, carded a bogey-free final round of 67 to finish on 11 under par, one shot clear of runner-up Vikki Laing of Scotland.

Laing went into the 18th holding a one-shot lead but saw her title bid ended by a bogey after finding a bunker, with Bondad picking up a birdie on the same hole. Bondad said after her win at Yalong Bay Golf Club: “It feels unreal. It hasn’t hit me yet.”

Bondad started her final round with eight successive pars before beginning her charge with an eagle at the par-five ninth.

She then added birdies at the 12th, 13th and 18th holes to finish five under for the round.

“I was hitting it close and I just wasn’t making any putts and when that eagle putt went in at the ninth, that kept me going, and made me think, ‘I can get up there’,” added Bondad, whose previous best finish in four seasons on the Ladies European Tour was joint-second at the 2010 Open de Espana Femenino.

Laing began the final round level with Bondad and she enjoyed a fine start to the day with birdies at the first, fifth, sixth and ninth holes as she took the tournament lead.

The 30-year-old then added another birdie at the 14th but she paid a heavy price for finding sand on the 18th as she dropped her only shot of the round.

That left Laing with her third runners-up spot in two seasons. Despite the late disappointment, Laingsaid: “I’m really happy with my round. I’d have taken four under, standing on the first tee, so other than that, I played pretty well today.”

South African Ashleigh Simon fired a 69 and ended in a share of third with Pan of China, who shot 72.