Kirkwood in shock success

Britain's Rachel Kirkwood holed a 25-foot birdie putt at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off to pull off a shock win in the Biarritz Classic.

And the victory, which came in the final event of the Evian European Tour season, could not have come at a better time.

I swore I'd never go back to the Tour school, so it was 60-40 that I was going to quit

Rachel Kirkwood

Faced with a return to the Tour school prior to her success in France, Kirkwood was contemplating quitting the game.

"I can't believe it," said Kirkwood, a third-year professional whose best previous result this year was a joint 59th in the Irish Open

"I swore I'd never go back to the Tour school, so it was 60-40 that I was going to quit."

Kirkwood edged out Spain's Marina Arruti after firing a final round 67 to finish on eight under.

In addition to the £15,000 prize, the Brit jumped to number 30 in the rankings and has a three-year Tour exemption.

Kirkwood, one behind overnight, dropped a shot at the second with three putts, but then made four birdies in regulation time before her wonderful finale in the play-off.

Spain's Raquel Carriedo, one behind at the start of the day and favourite to win her fourth title of the year, ruined her round with an out of bounds triple-bogey eight at the third, followed by a double-bogey at the next.

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Leading final round scores
(Gbr & Irl unless stated):

202 R Kirkwood 70 65 67, M Arruti (Spa) 68 66 68
203 S Giquel (Fra) 63 73 67
204 M Monnet (Fra) 66 71 67
206 N Moult 69 70 67, A Larraneta (Spa) 70 67 69, L Lambert (Aus) 64 72 70, AB Sanchez (Spa) 66 69 71, E Esterl (Ger) 68 71 67