Meadow closer to LPGA Tour card despite playoff loss
Stephanie Meadow moved up to second in the race for an LPGA Tour card despite missing out on her second Symetra Tour win of the season in the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic in New York.
The Jordanstown native (26) had a three-shot lead heading into the final round at Brook Lea Country Club in Rochester but was beaten on the fourth extra hole of a sudden-death playoff by 18-year-old Korean rookie Eun Jeong Seong.
Seong fired a five-under 67 to set the target in the $150,000 event on the LPGA Tour’s equivalent of the Challenge Tour.
Scores
While Meadow holed a long birdie putt at the 17th to regain the lead, she bogeyed the 177-yard, par-three 18th to shoot a one-under 71 and finish up in a playoff 12-under par.
Both players parred the 18th three times in sudden-death before Seong made birdie to Meadow’s par the fourth time around to take the title and the $22,500 top prize.
Meadow, who won the Symetra Tour’s IOA Championship in a playoff in April by holing a 40 footer, won $14,136 and jumped five spots to second in the Volvik Race for the Card standings which will see the top ten awarded LPGA Tour cards at the end of the season.
“Last time I made a bomb!” Meadow said of her previous playoff experience this season. “Wish I had that again.
"I just made a couple mistakes but made some great putts out there to get myself back in it. It was such a hard hole to have a playoff on because I was right between a five-iron and a four-hybrid. She made a great birdie.”
Despite her disappointment, a seventh top-10 finish of the season left her feeling confident about the rest of the campaign.
“I played great, made really great decisions and it was way better than my last three weeks,” said Meadow. “I just have to take the positives and keep rolling with it.”
Following the 12th tournament of the 2018 Symetra Tour season, the Volvik Race for the Card saw a good amount of shifting within the top-10.
Leona Magure is 73rd after missing her second cut from four starts while twin sister Lisa, who also missed the cut in Rochester, has yet to finish in the money.
The win and $22,500 winner’s check launched Eun Jeong Seong 20 spots up the rankings to No. 6, having earned $42,281 through seven events played. Here is a look at the current top-10 heading into the Fuccillo Kia Classic of NY from July 27-29 at the Capital Hills of Albany:
- Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines) - $59,672
- Stephanie Meadow - $52,443
- Jenny Haglund (Karlstad, Sweden) - $49,751
- Isi Gabsa (Munich, Germany) - $48,278
- Ruixin Liu (Dalian, China) - $42,355
- Eun Jeong Seong - $42,281
- Elizabeth Szokol (Winnetka, Illinois) - $40,274
- Stephanie Kono (Honolulu, Hawaii) - $39,248
- Karen Chung (Livingston, New Jersey) - $37,521
- Vicky Hurst (Melbourne, Florida) - $35,773
73. Leona Maguire $7,435
