Anna Foster wrapped up her LET card when she finished a career-best joint second in the €350,000 VP Swiss Ladies Open.
The Elm Park star (24) went out in the final group for the first time in her short LET career, three shots behind Sweden's Kajsa Arwefjal, who faded to fifth after a closing 72.
Foster followed a bogey at the first with a birdie at the second and a chip-in eagle at the third to briefly tie for the lead through five holes.
But she had to settle for a three-under par 68 and a tie for second with Germany's Alexandra Forsterling (67) and Australia's Whitney Hillier (68), one stroke behind English veteran Eleanor Givens, who won in her 210th LET start.
Givens (37) shot a bogey-free, five-under 66 to win on 13-under par and take home €52,500 as Foster earned €22,750 — the second biggest cheque of her career after she made €24,703 in the €4.3m PIF Saudi Ladies International in February.
She jumps from 61st to 34th in the Order of Merit, with the top 70 at the end of the season retaining their playing rights.
It was a confidence-boosting result for the former Auburn University star, whose next start comes at the KMPG Women's Irish Open at The K Club in a fortnight.
After a bogey at the sixth, she turned for home two strokes behind Givens, then birdied the short 11th to get within one.
But a bogey at the 15th, where she missed a short par putt, ultimately proved costly, and while she impressively birdied the par-five 16th and 17th holes, she couldn't birdie the last from 70 feet to force a play-off after being forced to chip her short approach under a huge tree that protects the green.
As for Givens, she was doused with champagne at the finish, having come from four shots off the lead on the final day.
"I can't believe it," Givens said. "I'm so excited and really proud of myself. I'm a little bit in shock as well. I did feel pretty calm today, a lot calmer than I thought I would.
"I just thought, come on, let's go for this. My weekend had a nightmare start [because my clubs arrived late] so it's kind of fate that I managed to win this week. I took my chance."
On the PGA Tour, Shane Lowry's hopes of qualifying for the second FedEx Cup play-off event all but evaporated when he carded a two-over 72 in the third round of the FedEx St Jude Championship to slip to 53rd on three-over.
Ranked 62nd in the FedEx Cup, the Offaly man needs to finish no worse than a two-way tie for 11th at TPC Southwind in Memphis to make the top 50 in the standings who will qualify for next week's BMW Championship in St Louis.
A rusty Rory McIlroy also struggled, hitting just four fairways as he found water from the tee and double-bogeyed the 18th to card a two-over 72 that left him tied for 62nd in the 68-man field on six-over.
Scottie Scheffler shot a two-under 68 to lead by two shots on 13-under from Sam Burns (62) and Sungjae Im (67).
At the Danish Golf Championship, France's Romain Langasque takes a one-shot lead into the final round at Great Northern as he chases his first DP World Tour victory for nearly six years.
He carded a five-under-par round of 67 to move to 14 under, one ahead of China's Yanhan Zhou.
Meanwhile, Galway's Liam Nolan made nine birdies in a six-under 66 to move up to joint 20th alongside Mark Power (69) in the Irish Challenge at Killeen Castle.
They're six strokes behind South Africans Justin Harding (69) and Louis Albertse (72), who lead by a shot on 12-under from Sweden's Tobias Jensen Edén and South Africa's Bryce Easton.
Jensen eagled the par-five 15th and holed in one at the 16th en route to a joint best of the day 65.
Gary Hurley's 73 left him 48th on three-under with Max Kennedy and Ronan Mullarney 54th on one-under after 72s and Dermot McElroy 67th in six-over after a 79.
Article Link: Foster wraps up card with career-best runner-up finish in Switzerland - News - Irish Golf Desk