Leonor Bessa, Photo: Carla Guerreiro / PGA Portugal
Leonor Bessa winner of the PGA Portugal Tour
December 1st, 2020, entered in the history of national golf as the first time that a woman won a mixed tournament on the PGA Portugal Tour, the Portuguese Professional Circuit.
The national champion defeated her boyfriend Tomás Melo Gouveia in the play-off at Amendoeira Golf Resort, in the center of the Algarve and a unique natural beauty with the award-winning Faldo Course, designed by Sir Nick Faldo and the challenging O’Connor Jnr course.
Leonor Bessa is the author of this accomplishment ended the calendar of high competition in Portugal in the 2020 season.
Leonor Bessa had already won both women’s tournaments, in July and September, and is, therefore, the current national professional champion and absolute national champion. This most recent triumph maintained her invincibility internally and had a special impact for the historical record.
The 22-year-old Portuguese totalled 67 strokes, 5 below the Par of O’Connor Jr. Golf Course at Amendoeira Golf Resort, thanks to an exceptional round, unique in her professional career, as she had never made 18 competitive holes without suffering bogeys and converted 5 birdies.
The title decision was played at hole 18, where Tomás had even made a birdie and Leonor had matched the Par-4. Therefore, none played particularly well and it was with 1 bogey that the national champion took over her third title of the year.
A “sudden death”, at least curious and unusual, because Leonor Bessa and Tomás Melo Gouveia started dating this year and often train together in Algarve golf courses, such as: Vilamoura Pinhal, Vilamoura Millennium, Vilamoura Laguna, Vilamoura Old Course, Vilamoura Victoria as well as in Vale do Lobo Royal & Ocean, San Lorenzo & Pinheiros Altos and Quinta do Lago North, South & Laranjal, a region where they both reside and full of wonderful accommodation offers for an unforgettable golf holiday, we highlight the 5 star Hotels, Tivoli Marina Vilamoura, Crowne Plaza as well as the 4 star Hotels, Vila Galé Ampalius, Vila Galé Marina, Dom Pedro Vilamoura & Dom Pedro Marina.
Besides boyfriends, Tomás was Leonor’s caddy in tournaments of the Spanish Santander Golf Tour at the Real Golf Pedreña and at Oliva Nova Golf (Valencia) and she was also a caddy of him in a European Tour tournament, so the normal thing is to pull each other and not directly rival each other.
Her international season was also positive, ending, for the first time, in the top 10 (7th) of the Santander Golf Tour ranking, the Spanish professional circuit.
But the great achievement of this PGA Portugal Open was to meet for the first time this year, in the same tournament counting only for internal rankings, Tomás Bessa (-4), the national champion of professionals, who competes in the Alps Tour Golf; Ricardo Melo Gouveia (-3), the absolute national champion, who fights on the Challenge Tour; and Pedro Lencart (Par), the national amateur champion. In 2020 this happened only in the Portuguese tournaments of the European Tour and in this event.
The top-10 of the PGA Portugal Open 2020, held at the O’Connor Jr. Golf Course at Amendoeira Golf Resort, was as follows:
1st Leonor Bessa, 67 strokes (5 under par), (play-off victory), tee off from the blue marks;
2nd Tomás Melo Gouveia, 67 (-5), white marks;
3rd Tomás Bessa, 68 (-4), white marks;
3rd Miguel Gaspar, 68 (-4), white marks;
5. Ricardo Melo Gouveia, 69 (-3), white marks;
5th Tomás Silva, 69 (-3), white marks;
7th Susana Ribeiro, 71 (-1), blue marks;
7th Vítor Lopes, 71 (-1), white marks;
7th Alexandre Abreu, 71 (-1), white marks;
7th Pedro Cruz Silva, 71 (-1), amateur, white marks;
Tee Times Golf Agency congratulates Leonor Bessa on her success and wishes her many more achievements in her bright future, as well as, to all our clients, unforgettable golf holidays in our country that we will be happy to organize.
Source: Hugo Ribeiro / Tee Times Golf (teetimes.pt) for Record
