LET player closes out 2020 season by becoming the first to do this on tour in 31 years

Winning streaks don’t usually last long on the Ladies European Tour, which is what makes Emily Kristine Pedersen’s performance this past month notable. After a pair of victories in Saudi Arabia, the 24-year-old from Denmark triumphed again on Sunday in Spain, grabbing the title in the 2020 season finale at the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de España. In the process, Pedersen became the first LET golfer to win three straight individual tournaments since Marie-Laure de Lorrenzi in 1989 and only the second in the tour’s history.

Pedersen’s latest victory, her fourth in 12 LET starts in 2020, came after closing with bogey-free 66 at Real Club de Golf Guadalmina, extending a one-stroke lead at the start of the day to a four-shot victory over Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz. For good measure, Pedersen did it with her father serving as her caddie

“It was very special with my dad here,” Pedersen said. “He got me into golf and he has been a big support the whole way, he kept me going when I was down. It is really big for me to have him here and win this amazing trophy. I was really happy to go through something really positive and good with him because he is right beside me off the course and now, he has been there on it.”

In addition to the €90,000 first-place check, Pedersen, a member of the 2017 European Solheim Cup team, also earned €20,000 for winning the inaugural year-long Race to Costa del Sol points title. Her season-long earnings were €415,000—three times the amount of No. 2 on the money list, Spain’s Azahara Munoz—thanks to the four wins, a playoff loss to Stacy Lewis at the Ladies Scottish Open in August and one other top 10, plus a T-11 at the Women’s British Open.

Pedersen’s impressive play this year helped earn her an exemption into next month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston (she was exempt off being 77th on the Rolex Ranking). There she’ll hope to improve upon a somewhat disappointing record in majors in the United States; Pedersen’s highest finish to date is a T-36 at the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Beyond her T-11 at this year’s Women’s British Open she has just one other top-20 showing in a major (T-14 at the 2016 Evian Championship).

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