Troon: Sophia Popov of Germany won the title in the final round on day four of the 2020 AIG Women’s Open in Troon, Scotland. The 27-year-old made history with a life-changing two-shot victory at Royal Troon, closing with a great final round of 68 (-3) to finish at seven-under-par and won $675,000.
Three weeks ago, the German lady could never have dreamt of that moment as she used to do a job of a caddie at the LPGA Drive On Championship for best friend Anne Van Dam and only qualified for that championship courtesy of a T9 finish a week later. She got some confidence from a T2 finish in Arizona last week but no one assumed that she would get the trophy, least of all Popov.
Looking agitated throughout, Popov, who led by three- strokes overnight, came into the week ranked 304 on the Rolex Rankings and she became the first German to achieve a Women’s major Championship and the highest-ranked player to win the historic tournament. She stained her name in the glorious list of champions including Georgia Hall, Catriona Mathew and Annika Sorestam.
Sophia, defeated the odds and triumphed against a world-class international field, was overwhelmed when her mates stormed the green with champagne. “It feels amazing. There’s a lot of hard work behind it, and a lot of struggles that I went through the last six years, especially health-wise, and I’m just glad I was able to overcome everything and just keep my head in it. I think we are going to have a thorough celebration at the hotel, social distance of course. But as soon as I get home, it will be a little more extensive,” she said.
