CHART HILLS went desperately close to a home victory in the Ladies English Open on Sunday but third place for Dani Masters was still a brilliant result for the first-year Ladies Tour professional.

She gave an enthusastic Kent crowd plenty to cheer, particularly after finishing with a birdie on the final green, but it wasn't quite enough to deny Sweden’s Cecilia Ekelundh.

The Nick Faldo-designed course, and horrrendous weather on the first day, certainly presented real problems for Europe’s top women with only the top nine getting into red figures.

But a strong finish by Ekelundh with birdies on 14, 16 and 17 carried her clear of the tenacious German Martina Eberl and not even a last hole bogey could prevent her claiming her third Tour victory.

Despite the awful weather on the first day Masters, from Pembury, carded one of the best scores of the round with a three under 69, although she slipped slightly with a second day 73.

However, a steady final round 70 meant she claimed third place on her own with a 212 total and secured her card for another year.

Masters, 23 said: "It was breathtaking to see all the support from people that I hadn’t seen for ages and whom I didn’t know still followed my career. The extra support was in my favour which was nice."