ALEXANDER WINS KPMG WOMEN’S IRISH OPEN
Casandra Alexander is the 2026 KPMG Women’s Irish Open Champion as she completed a stunning wire-to-wire victory at The K-Club to win her second Ladies European Tour title.
It was a shaky start for the South African as she opened with two bogeys, but as the World No. 38 said herself “she steadied the ship” with three birdies in a row on the 5th, 6th and 7th, with a further two following on the back nine for a round of 70 and a 20-under total of 268 to secure a comfortable victory and a winner’s cheque of €67,500.
“I’m really, really pumped,” the 27-year-old said, who follows up last year’s win at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open. “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.”
Alexander finished three clear of her nearest challenger Sara Kouskova of the Czech Republic who also shot a 70 for a total of 271, while a charging Noora Komulainen of Finland made six birdies on her way to a 67 and solo third on 272.
The win cements Alexander’s hold on the Order Of Merit as she maintained her number one spot with 2,399.98pts, a whopping 754.28pts clear of second placed Anna Huang of Canada.
“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.”
“Golf is a really tough game,” the 27-year-old said. “When you get into the final group on the final day, something takes over. You either have it or you don’t. I got off to a rocky start, had a couple uncomfortable lies, those are the types of situations you get nervy on. But we steadied the ship with three birdies in a row. I then had a rocky start to the back-nine but steadied the ship again. “
“Overall, happy with my performance. It’s always tough on the final day when you’re leading a golf tournament.”
Alexander’s victory march down the back nine was only halted on the 15th when play was suspended due to a passing thunder storm, which skirted past the K-Club and play resumed 30-minutes later. Alexander and her playing partner Sara Kouskova each had birdie putts waiting for their return and both duly holed them.
“I knew I was going to make the putt after the restart. 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.”
After a strong back-nine, Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova finished the week in solo second on 17-under par. It caps off a fine month for the Olympian who finished T12 at the AIG Women’s Open and 16th at the PIF London Championship.
“It was such a great week,” Kouskova said. “I love coming back to Ireland and putting together a good score here was phenomenal. You have the fans cheering and it’s incredible. I’m proud of what we did this week. I can see all the shots I left out there but Casandra [Alexander] is a phenomenal player. She deserved this win for sure.”
One back from Kouskova in solo third was fellow Olympian Noora Komulainen from Finland. Despite being ill this week, the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open winner produced a valiant chase on Sunday firing a round of 67 (-5) to surge up the leaderboard. The scorecard also included a bogey on her final hole after finding the water with her third shot.
Leona Maguire who started the day seven strokes behind Alexander couldn’t bridge the gap, but she gave the home crowd something to shout about when she birdied the last to fire a 4-under-par 68 to finish on 15-under par alongside Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist who earned her best result on the LET.
Lauren Walsh was the next highest Irish golfer finishing on 280 (-8) followed by Anna Foster on 282 (-6), Aine Donegan 284 (-4) and Canice Screene 287 (-1).