Eleanor Givens rallied from a four-shot deficit to win the VP Bank Swiss Open, her first win after 15 seasons and 210 starts.
Going into the final round of the 54-hole event, Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjäll led Whitney Hillier and Anna Foster by three shots with Chloe Williams, Alexandra Forsterling and Givens sitting four shots back. After a front nine of 37 (+2), Arwefjall lost her lead, with Forsterling, Givens and Hillier making multiple birdies to move up the leaderboard. Givens then separated herself from the group down the stretch, making two birdies to Forsterling and Hillier’s one to take home the trophy.
Givens joined the Ladies European Tour in 2012, with her best finish before this week of fifth coming at the 2021 VP Bank Swiss Open. After the win, she described her process coming into this season and the impact of her finish this week.
“This is life-changing. I was looking last year at whether I still wanted to play or not. I decided, ‘no, come on, you’ve got this! You’ve got the ability to play and still compete,’” Givens said. “I’ve worked really, really hard behind the scenes. To have this trophy means so much,” she said.
With her win, Givens earned €52,500 and 500 points in the Ladies European Tour’s Order of Merit. She moved into 23rd place.
After a bogey-free round of 66 (-5), Hillier’s runner-up finish is her best result on tour this season. She continues to look for her first career victory after 186 starts.
“The feeling is addictive. You just want to compete, play and get close to winning. I was bogey-free today … It’s my first time contending since 2022 and it felt so good. I slept well and was in a good mental space. It’s just so nice to have my golf back to where it was,” she said.
Vanessa Knecht had the highest finish (T46) out of any Swiss golfer in the field.
The Ladies European Tour will take a week off and then resume at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open from Aug. 27-30.
