Singaporean golfer Shannon Tan tees off season with 3rd spot at Lalla Meryem Cup

SINGAPORE – After a remarkable rookie season on the Ladies European Tour (LET) in 2024, Singaporean golfer Shannon Tan teed off her 2025 campaign with a promising third-place finish at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco on Feb 8.

The 20-year-old carded a one-under 72 at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam’s Blue Course to sign for an eight-under 211 total, just one stroke behind India’s Diksha Dagar (67) and England’s Cara Gainer (69).

The latter two were tied at the top after 54 holes, with Garnier winning her maiden title on tour after a play-off at the par-four No. 18. The Englishwoman notched a birdie on the 385-yard hole, while Diksha bogeyed it.

World No. 142 Tan said: “Overall, I’m relatively happy with how I played this week.

“After the off-season, it’s always nice to get back into competitive mode, and to start the year with a strong finish is a great feeling. There are definitely things to work on, but I’m taking a lot of positives from this week.”

After opening with a three-under 70 on Feb 6, Tan shot a 69 in the second round to go into the final day as the overnight leader at seven-under 139, just one stroke ahead of Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, Germany’s Helen Briem and Sara Byrne of Ireland.

With 20 players within four strokes of the lead after the second round of the €450,000 (S$629,300) event, the competition did not ease on the final day.

Tan parred the first five holes before bogeying the No. 6 for a one-over 38 on the front nine, but she battled back with three birdies and a bogey on the back nine.

Diksha enjoyed an almost flawless final round, registering seven birdies against one bogey for a 67 to top the leaderboard, while Gainer was also impressive with six birdies and two bogeys.

Tan said: “I knew it was going to be a close fight, so my focus was just on staying composed and play my game.

“I gave myself the chances with the putts today but they didn’t drop. But that’s golf, and there are definitely things to work on.”

Tan hopes that her performance in Morocco, which earned her €27,000, will be a springboard to more success to come in the season.

She also had a strong start to her 2024 season, winning on her LET debut at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open before picking up four more top-10 finishes and eventually placing sixth on the Tour’s Order of Merit.

Tan made more history at the Paris Olympics when she became the first Singaporean golfer to feature at the Games (ending 40th), and was also just the second from the Republic to make the cut at a Major, doing so at the 2024 Women’s British Open.

She said: “A top-three finish is always a nice way to start. It gives me a good foundation to build on and in a way reassures me that the work I did in the off-season is paying off.

“Now, I just want to keep improving, keep learning and hopefully put myself in contention more often this season.”

Tan heads to Riyadh next for the Feb 13-15 PIF Saudi Ladies International, before returning to Singapore for the Feb 27-March 2 HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Singapore Golf Association general manager Joshua Ho said: “We are heartened by Shannon’s strong start to the season and to see her building on what she achieved in 2024. 

“The Singapore golf community will continue to support her in 2025 as she competes on the international stage.”