Gwladys Nocera

Gwladys Nocera (born 22 May 1975) is a French professional golfer who formerly played on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.

Gwladys Nocera
Personal information
Born (1975-05-22) 22 May 1975 (age 49)
Moulins, France
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sporting nationality France
ResidenceBiarritz, France
Career
CollegeNew Mexico State University
(2001, International Business)
Turned professional2002
Current tour(s)Ladies European Tour (joined 2003)
LPGA Tour (joined 2010)
Professional wins15
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour14 (T7th all-time)
ALPG Tour1
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT24: 2010
Women's PGA C'ship72: 2015
U.S. Women's OpenT38: 2016
Women's British OpenT12: 2014
Evian ChampionshipT64: 2015
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour
Order of Merit winner
2008
Ladies European Tour
Player of the Year
2006, 2008
Medal record
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place1997 BariWomen's team

Amateur career

Nocera was born in Moulins, Allier. She is of Portuguese descent.[1] She had a successful amateur career. She finished runner up at the 1998 British Ladies Amateur Championship, was a member of the victorious European championship French team in 1999 and the youngest ever winning captain in the 2000 Espirito Santo Trophy (World Amateur Golf Team Championships).[2] She was a playing member of the 2002 French Espirito Santo Trophy team.[3]

She was runner up at the 2002 French Amateur Championship, 2002 French International Champion and 2002 German International champion. She holds a degree in international business from New Mexico State University.

Professional career

Nocera turned professional at the relatively late age of twenty-seven and finished ninth at the 2002 Ladies European Tour Qualifying School to win a place on the tour for the following season. After a modest start she improved dramatically in 2005, when she finished fourth on the Order of Merit and made her Solheim Cup debut where she beat Cristie Kerr in her singles match.[4]

In 2006 her career took another upward turn. She started the year representing France at the Women's World Cup of Golf with Karine Icher.[5] She scored her first three Ladies European Tour tournament victories at the Ladies Swiss Open, the BMW Ladies Italian Open and the Catalonia Ladies Masters.[6][7][8] She also played in her first women's major tournament, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She finished second on the New Star Money list being beaten only by Laura Davies the holder of the record number of money list wins and was voted Players’ Player of the Year by her fellow Ladies European Tour professionals.[9]

On 20 January 2008, at the fourth Women's World Cup of Golf in Sun City, South Africa, team France with Nocera and Virginie Lagoutte-Clément finished fifth, seven shots behind winning South Korean team Jiyai Shin and Ji Eun-hee over 54 holes.[10]

In 2009, Nocera earned her LPGA Tour card at LPGA Q-School and at the age of 34 was a rookie and an LPGA Tour member the following season. She played the LPGA Tour full-time in 2010 and 2011, reaching a career best second place at the 2010 CVS/Pharmacy LPGA Challenge.[11]

LET 72-hole scoring record

Nocera won the 2008 Göteborg Masters by an 11 stroke margin after scoring 259 (−29) following rounds of 66-62-65-66,[12] the best 72-hole score in the LET's 40-year history. The bogey-free round of 62 is only one stroke off the LET single round scoring record of 61 (−11).[13]

Source:[14]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (15)

Ladies European Tour (14)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
121 May 2006Ladies Swiss Open69-70-63-71=273–153 strokes Laura Davies
217 Jun 2006BMW Ladies Italian Open71-66-65-72=274–142 strokes Sophie Giquel-Bettan
323 Jul 2006Catalonia Ladies Masters69-69-69=207–95 strokes Sarah Kemp
410 Jun 2007KLM Ladies Open64-70-67=201–157 strokes Virginie Lagoutte-Clement
58 Dec 2007EMAAR-MGF Ladies Masters69-69-72-71=281–71 stroke Virginie Lagoutte-Clement
64 May 2008Ladies Scottish Open69-70-69=208–52 strokes Maria Bodén
78 Jun 2008Dutch Ladies Open67-65-71=203–131 stroke Mel Reid
824 Aug 2008SAS Masters69-66-68=203–133 strokes Tania Elósegui, Samantha Head
921 Sep 2008Göteborg Masters66-62-65-66=259–2911 strokes Nina Reis
105 Oct 2008Madrid Ladies Masters72-69-67=208–114 strokes Paula Martí
1123 Jun 2013Allianz Ladies Slovak Open70-68-71-70=279–94 strokes Lee-Anne Pace
123 Nov 2013China Suzhou Taihu Open-65=201–152 strokes Carlota Ciganda
136 Dec 2014Hero Women's Indian Open64-72-72=208–115 strokes Fabienne In-Albon, Hannah Burke, Hyeon Seo Kang
1429 Mar 2015Lalla Meryem Cup68-65-68-70=271–132 strokes Felicity Johnson, Nicole Garcia, Mel Reid

ALPG Tour (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runners-up
12009New Zealand Women's Open71-68-69=208−86 strokes Nikki Garrett, Katherine Hull,
Sarah Kemp, Bobea Park

Ladies European Tour career summary

YearWinsEarnings (€)Order of Merit
rank
Scoring
average
2003019,227.245173.32
2004052,496.772372.60
20050164,739.73471.31
20063415,020.50270.42
20072207,478.98371.97
20085391,839.58170.54
20090137,730.27971.85
2010065,716.6633
2011051,285.2046
2012099,744.811772.39
20132221,287.93471.60
20141233,288.65271.00

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

YearTotal
matches
Total
W–L–H
Singles
W–L–H
Foursomes
W–L–H
Fourballs
W–L–H
Points
won
Points
%
Career126–4–21–2–13–1–12–1–0758.3%
200521–1–01–0–0 def C. Kerr 2&10–1–0 lost w/L. Kreutz 4&2150%
200741–2–10–1–0 lost to N. Gulbis 4&31–0–1 won w/M. Hjorth 3&2, halved w/M. Hjorth0–1–0 lost w/S. Gustafson 3&21.537.5%
200943–0–10–0–1 halved w/J. Inkster2–0–0 won w/B.Brewerton 3&1, won w/B.Brewerton 5&41–0–0 won w/M. Hjorth 1 up3.587.6%
201521–1–00–1–0 lost to A. Lee 3&10–0–01–0–0 won w/ C. Hull 3&2150%

See also

Notes and references