After winning her maiden Sunshine Ladies Tour title with an incredible final round of 60 last week, Kiera Floyd will be looking to carry that momentum into this week’s Absa Ladies Invitational which tees off at Royal Johannesburg on Thursday.
The winner of last week’s Platinum Ladies Open joins another strong field this week that includes a host of recent champions as well as a few rising stars making their presence felt on this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour.
Multiple Sunshine Ladies Tour winners Casandra Alexander and Nadia van der Westhuizen as well as maiden winner Danielle du Toit are also challenging for honours in this week’s R1.2 million Absa Ladies Invitational.
They will be joined by rookie Kaiyuree Moodley who is currently first on The R&A Rookie of the Year standings as well as sixth on the Investec Order of Merit.
But Floyd is clearly the form golfer coming into this week, with the 20-year-old also returning to a Royal Johannesburg golf course where she won the South African Women’s Stroke Play Championship in 2022.
“Every week is different, and I have had history on Royal Johannesburg as I won the SA Women’s Stroke Play there, so it’s a good course. But every week is different and I am just going to go in with a clear mindset and start over. I played well last week and I am going to aim to play well this week, but I just need to settle down and take it as it comes,” she said.
Floyd is under no illusions as to the challenge that awaits her this week and with the standard of competition increasing every season on the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
“It's a lot tougher. The European girls are really good and it’s a lot more competitive. It is actually nice to play against different players and not the same players all the time, even though the women from South Africa are really good and I have so much respect for them.
“It is just a different field when there are a lot of Europeans because you never know what is going to happen. They just play a different ballgame so it’s so nice to learn from them. They are so calm on the course so it is a good experience.”
England’s Hayley Davis and Romy Meekers from The Netherlands – both currently in the top 10 on the Investec Order of Merit – will also be in action at Royal Johannesburg.