PARIS: England’s Melissa Reid held her overnight lead to record an emotional victory at the Prague Masters yesterday, just four weeks after her mother Joy was killed in a car crash in Germany.
Needing to hole a six-footer for par to seal a one stroke victory over Italian Diana Luna, Reid calmly rolled it in before breaking down in tears and being embraced by fellow friends and competitors on the 18th green.
“To be honest I wasn’t that nervous. I think with something like what’s happened to my family and me the last four weeks nothing really seems that difficult anymore,” said Reid, who finished on a nine under par total of 207.
“I spoke to my coach when I went back a couple of weeks after and he said to me, ‘I don’t know when it’s going to be, but this will make you a stronger person,’ and my best friends have said that as well and I honestly think it will.
“It will make me fight and nothing will seem as bad as what I’ve been through, so yeah, I actually felt very calm and I knew I was going to hole the putt on 18.”
This was Reid’s first competitive event since the Turkish Open six weeks ago.
She was due to play at the German Open before her parents, who were visiting the event to watch her compete, were injured in a car accident on the Tuesday evening and her mother passed away the following day.
“Obviously it’s very special with what the family and stuff has been through the last four weeks, so you know, hopefully, obviously it is good news to the family and will bring a smile on our faces at such a horrible time, so it means a lot,” added Reid.