Trish Johnson, from Wiltshire, scored the 23rd win of her pro golf career over the Torrance Course at Fairmont St Andrews.
The occasion was the opening 36-hole, two-day event on the PGA in Scotland’s Paul Lawrie Ladies Tartan Tour. The 48-year-old shot rounds of 72 and 71 for a one-under-par aggregate of 143.
Playing on this tour for the first time, Johnson, the biggest “name” in the field of 30, picked up the £2,500 prize by one shot from rookie pro Amy Boulden.
Another rookie and past Curtis Cup player, Edinburgh-born Sally Watson, finished third on 145 (74 and 71).
Johnson emphasised her superiority on the day by birdying the third and fourth in a two-under-par outward half of 34. She did bogey the 10th, 13th and 14th after the turn but birdied the short 11th and 16th.
Boulden had an eventful one-under-par 71, made up of six birdies and five bogeys.
She birdied the third, fourth, eighth, 12th, 14th and 16th but shed shots at the second, fifth, sixth, 10th and 15th in halves of 36-35. Boulden’s cheque for £1,250 was very probably the highest so far in her fledgling pro career.
Much the same could be said for Sally Watson, warming up for the Ladies’ European Tour afterfinished second in the Qualifying School.
Stanford University graduate Watson was the third player to notch a sub-par 71 on the second day, earning £750. The next 36-hole event on the Ladies Tartan Tour is over the Murcar Links, north of Aberdeen, on May 8 and 9.