A SUPERB final round of six under par earned York professional Kirsty Taylor joint second place in the women's British Open golf championship at Royal Birkdale.

Her final round of 67 saw her finish two strokes behind Sweden's Sophie Gustafson, who held on for victory despite a problematic final 18 holes that saw the Scandinavian almost let a seven stroke lead slip completely through her fingers.

For Taylor, who hails from Clitheroe but lives at Stillington and is a member at The York, Strensall, it was her biggest pay day as a professional as she netted over £50,000.

However, it was money that was hard earned after she put herself in amongst the leading group from the word go after shooting a first round 71 to be two under par.

The second round saw Taylor slip a little as she went round in 74, but she recovered on Saturday with a 72 to set up her tilt at the leaders.

The last round started perfectly for Taylor who said: "I made a birdie start which set me up quite nicely.

"I gave myself lots of chances in the last round and it was nice to finish it all off with a birdie."

But Taylor did not feel that her success would change her season too much.

"I just want to keep practising and enjoy the rest of the Evian Tour," she added.

"I will enjoy the financial reward of course, but I will just keep concentrating on working hard as I have always tried to do.

"I really enjoyed the support of a lot of relations at Birkdale, all of my family have been at the championships - even my two month old niece Eve who slept through a couple of rounds."