High school senior Chiara Noja won on the Ladies European Tour at the Aramco Team Series Jeddah, defeating her childhood idol, Charley Hull, in a playoff.
Noja, 16, carded a final-round 65 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club to get to 13 under, while Hull birdied four of her last six holes. Noja, a powerful player who stands six feet tall, birdied back-to-back holes in the playoff to secure the title.
Earlier in the week, Noja joked that she needed to win so that she didn’t need more school after accidentally bringing the wrong books to study in Jeddah.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in quite yet,” said Noja of her victory. “I think the happiness will come later this evening. Before we went out, my dad showed Charley a picture of me with her as a 10-year-old. It’s like a full circle, it’s a blessing.
“I’ve worked hard over a lot of years now to be able to not back out of shots and commit to everything that I do and not be afraid to fail.”
The LET’s Aramco Team Series is comprised of five events staged across the globe. The Saudi-backed events remain controversial given the wide-ranging human rights abuses Saudi Arabia has been accused of, especially toward women.
Other Aramco winners this year include Manon De Roey, Bronte Law, Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson.
Noja first played on the LET as a 14-year-old amateur at the Dubai event. After a second-round 86 sent her spiraling, however, she later admitted on Instagram that back at the hotel, she couldn’t imagine going back on the course for the final round.
“I was unable to deal with the pressure,” wrote Noja, “and the fact that millions of people were watching on TV, and consequently had a complete meltdown.”
She’s come a long way since then, with a victory and five additional top-three finishes on the LET Access Series this season, finishing second on the Order of Merit to earn her LET card for 2023.
A couple weeks later, she’s already won on that tour. Noja said she hasn’t a clue what comes next.
“I can’t even begin to fathom it,” she said. “I’m just going to try and relax tonight. Maybe have a burger and sleep, probably the best night sleep I’m ever going to get and see how I feel.”
[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]