Casandra Alexander has done it again. The South African has earned her second Ladies European Tour title at the 2026 KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
“I’m really, really pumped,” she said. “This one’s really special. One, it’s a special event. Two, I almost feel as if the second win is just as important as the first one and it proves it’s not a fluke. I’m glad I could get that done. It’s also Doug’s [my caddie’s] first win on the bag so I’m really chuffed about that. I can’t wait to get home and celebrate with friends and family.”
Despite this being her first win of the season, Alexander has been leading the LET Order of Merit for months thanks to ten top-10 finishes. She is now more than 750 points ahead of No. 2 teenage phenom Anna Huang.
“The Order of Merit is goal number one and the best way to win the Order of Merit is to win golf tournaments. That’s what I’m trying to do,” said Alexander.
Alexander won the KPMG Women’s Irish Open wire-to-wire, meaning she led the event from Day 1. She said she had a rocky start on her final day but that she kept her head in the game and pushed through for the win. She began the final day with a three-stroke lead and ultimately won by three.
“Golf is a really tough game,” she said. “When you get into the final group on the final day, something takes over. You either have it or you don’t… Overall, happy with my performance. It’s always tough on the final day when you’re leading a golf tournament.”
Even with a storm delay, Alexander didn’t let the pause throw her off; she birdied her first hole back on the course – hole 15 – and then made pars the rest of the way in.
“I knew I was going to make the putt after the restart,” the 27-year-old said. “I said to Doug this is a big moment because it’s a bit of a momentum switch. I knew Sara [Kouskova] had hit it close so I knew she’d make that and I would need to make mine. Overall really happy with how I held it together. I’ve said it a million times, you need a little bit of luck to win golf tournaments and I had that today. There were a couple of tee shots which were a little dodgy and got good bounces. So yeah, overall really happy.”
Kouskova ultimately finished in solo second, followed by Finland’s Noora Komulainen. Ireland’s sweetheart Leona Maguire fired a final round of 68 (-4) to finish T4 in her home open.
Next on the tee for Maguire and Europe’s other top players is the Solheim Cup (Sept. 11-13), where Team Europe will look to win the cup back from the U.S. The next regular LET event will be in Spain, Sept. 17-20, for La Sella Open.
