Dubai: Emily Pedersen immediately went about setting new targets after winning the Rookie of the Year Award at the Ladies European Tour (LET) season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Masters on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Dane had come into this tournament with a €30,000 (Dh120,717) lead over compatriot Nanna Madsen on the money-list.
Madsen, 22, would have needed to finish second in the hope that Pedersen dropped to below eighth in this tournament if she were to overtake her rival at the final hurdle.
But in the end Madsen finished tied for 40th at three over par with four round scores of 70, 73, 76, 72, 291. Pedersen, meanwhile, finished tied for 17th at two under par with scores of 69, 78, 70, 69, 286.
“It feels really good to win the Rookie of the Year,” said Pedersen, who got one win and five top ten finishes in 14 events this season. “This is something I’ve wanted. It’s something you only get once in your life, so it’s a very big honour for me and I’m very happy.”
Asked what she wanted to go on to achieve in her career after such a solid start, she replied: “I want to be the World No. 1 one day. Hopefully I’ll win the Order of Merit on the LET and LPGA and there will be a lot more victories on both tours.”
She added that her lone win at the Indian Open in October, which had enabled her to overtake Madsen in the money-list, had proven to be the turning point, and said that it had ultimately left Madsen with too much to do.
“The win in India came at a great time with only two tournaments left. I think I played two or three less tournaments than her, so obviously my win did a lot. I had two second-place finishes and a lot of top ten finishes as well, so it was a decent year.
“It was a lot to ask of Nanna [to finish at least second]. She would have had to have delivered the best result of her season,” she added of Madsen, who made six top ten finishes in 16 events this season. “But I know she’s a decent player and I know she could do it. It’s always a possibility with a good player like her.”
Both Pedersen and Madsen had rebuffed reporters’ questions on the rookie race all week, with the standard reply that they weren’t really thinking about it. But Pedersen admitted that when she hit 78 in round two on Thursday and Madsen temporarily overtook her in the leaderboard with a 73, the prospect of losing the rookie award had crossed her mind.
“I was saying to myself: ‘Emily, do you really want to miss the cut in the last tournament and just walk around for two days hoping that Nanna doesn’t play good?’ I wanted to act and to do my best for myself and not depend on others.
“A lot of spectators were cheering for Nanna and I was thinking about the Rookie award and getting a good result too much, instead of just focusing on my golf.
“I hit bad shots and got insecure instead of taking control of the situation. It’s a big mistake but I obviously learnt from it and came back in the last two rounds.”
Madsen said: “It was too much to ask of me [to finish second], especially because I played so bad the last couple of months. In the middle of the season I was leading by €80,000, but then she caught me and I haven’t played very well since. I’m looking forward to next season to just start over again. I’m pretty tired of this season now. It’s just good there’s a new season.”
