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Morocco’s Ines Laklalech has become the first golfer from North Africa to qualify for the LPGA tour, having been inspired by the coach behind her country’s World Cup run in Qatar.<\/span><\/p>\n Laklalech, 25, earned a spot on the premier tour in women’s golf despite shooting her worst round on the final day of the qualifying event in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Casablanca resident fired a one-over par 73 in the final round at Highland Oaks in Dothan, Alabama on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet she finished on 19 under par at the end of the eight-round tournament and shared 12th place – good enough to claim a much sought-after spot on next season’s tour.<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m a big fan of the Moroccan national team so I’m super, super happy,” Laklalech said. “It definitely gave me an extra boost on the course.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Atlas Lions have become the first African side to reach the semi-finals of football’s World Cup, and Laklalech has been using the positive attitude of Morocco coach Walid Regragui, when speaking about his squad, while out on the course. <\/span><\/p>\n “I’ve been watching very closely what the national coach is saying about the team because it’s history,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n “His words really gave me confidence that everything is possible, because that’s their mindset right now. I think it’s all connected and related because I’ve been watching videos of the press conferences every single day.”<\/span><\/p>\n On Saturday, Laklalech took a big step towards securing her tour card when she made four birdies in the last four holes and posted her best round of the event, a six-under par 66, just as the country’s footballers were <\/span>upsetting Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Success on the world stage may be a new experience for Morocco’s men’s football team, but Laklalech is no stranger to making history. <\/span><\/p>\n In September, she won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France on the Ladies European Tour (LET) to become <\/span>that tour’s first Moroccan, Arab and North African winner.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n With four other top-10 finishes on the LET this season, her success in qualifying for the most high-profile tour in women’s golf is the latest chapter in a stellar year for sport in North Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n In July, Morocco reached the final of football’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat, <\/span>where they lost 2-1 to South Africa,<\/span><\/a> and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali won steeplechase gold at the World Athletics Championships in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur became the first North African to reach the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon in July – before impressively repeating the feat a few months later at the US Open.<\/span><\/p>\n The 28-year-old finished as runner-up on both occasions, but ended the season with the WTA’s Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award, voted for by her peers and announced on Sunday, for “demonstrating conduct befitting of a professional sports figure and observing the rules of fair play”.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n