Boys no match for Moriya

It was the first time in the nine year history of the 54 hole championship for boys and girls (under18s) that a female golfer had taken centre stage.

Moriya's success was her second triumph in Europe after becoming the first girl to win England's R&A Junior Open, last year.

 Moriya, 15 years of age and standing just under 150 centimetres tall, finished with a twooverpar tally of 218 to win by a shot from Israel's Laetitia Beck. Richard Jung from Canada was the first boy in the mix, signing off for a share of third place with Spain's Camilla Hedberg.

Moriya's closing 70, two under par, was the low round of the tournament. The highlight was at the 350-yard ninth hole where, having done her usual trick of carrying the ball 250 yards and bisecting the fairway, she holed out with her wedge.

Not that she saw the ball drop. She was busy searching in the rough beyond the green when one of her playing companions checked the hole and announced the good news.

British boys' champion Tom Lewis, a golfer who had never seen top female juniors in action before, conceded that the girls were better than he had anticipated and Moriya was a worthy winner.

"Being beaten by girls isn't a great feeling. I know I'm going to get a bit of stick for what's happened but the truth is that the girls deserved their results," said the 18yearold Lewis. 

Jutanugarn's closing 70 was nothing short of "fantastic", he added.

Poom Saksangsil, the other Thai golfer in the tournament, also had a decent result, finishing in joint 14th with 230.