Former Cougar Angie Hill Advances to LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament
10/5/2007 4:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
VENICE, Fla., Oct. 5, 2007 ? Former College of Charleston women's golfer Angie Hill fired a 72 in the final round to total a 283, just two strokes from the leader, a finish tied for second at the LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament held this week at the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla. Na-Yeon Choi shot a 1-over par 73 in Friday's final round to earn medalist honors and join 33 others to compete at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
Choi, who led wire-to-wire this week, began the day with a two-shot lead over fellow South Korean Hee Young Park at 8-under-par. She made bogey on hole 1, but recovered with a birdie on hole 4 to make the turn at even-par for the day. The 19-year-old carded a birdie on hole 15 before hitting her second shot out of bounds on hole 16, a par-5. She made double bogey on the hole, but finished the day at 1-over with a two-shot advantage.
“I was so happy to win wire-to-wire,” said Choi, following her round. “I just tried to play relaxed. I didn't make a lot of birdies today, but it was okay. I just tried to have fun.”
Choi, who tied a tournament-low with a 67 in the first round, has won on the KLPGA once in each of her four years on the tour, including a three-stroke victory two weeks ago at the Shinsegye Cup KLPGA Championship. She is currently fourth on the 2007 KLPGA ADT CAPS Money List after making the cut in all 12 of her starts this year with eight top-10 finishes. Choi's best LPGA Tour finish came at the 2006 KOLON-Hana Bank Championship where she fired a 2-under-par 214 to tie for 11th. She also played this season at the U.S. Women's Open and the Evian Masters, missing the cut at both.
“There will be players from all over the world in Daytona,” said Choi. “It will be a challenge for me.”
Hill, the medalist at the 2006 Venice qualifier, shot even-par 72 in the final round to finish in a tie for second at 5-under-par (68-72-71-72=283). Despite making bogey on three of her last four holes, the College of Charleston graduate made birdies on holes 2, 4 and 10 to advance to the final stage for the second consecutive year.
“It's just one more step,” said the 24-year-old Hill. “I played all year and tried to get on through the Futures Tour. It doesn't matter who wins here, it's all about making it to LPGA International.”
The 2006 Southern Conference Player of the Year at the College of Charleston, Hill played 19 events with 11 cuts made on the Duramed Futures Tour in 2007.
Grzebien, who started the day tied for third place with Hill, also shot even-par 72 on Friday to tie for second place at 5-under-par (71-69-71-72=283). Grzebien, the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Individual Champion, made birdies on holes 4 and 18 and bogies on holes 5 and 16 to advance to Daytona Beach on her first ever attempt.
“I played well all week and was just consistent with fairways and greens,” said the 22-year-old Grzebien. “It was good to come out here and play solid.”
A graduate of Duke, Grzebien also won three NCAA Division I Women's Golf team titles at the school.
The first two days, players competed on both the Bobcat and Panther courses at Plantation Golf and Country Club, playing each of the courses once before the cut was made to the low 70 and ties after 36 holes. The final two rounds were played on the 6,412-yard Bobcat Course. The top-30 players and ties after 72 holes advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
The Venice qualifier is the second of the LPGA Tour's two sectional qualifying events in 2007. The first was at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., two weeks ago. The top-30 finishers and ties from each qualifier join current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their status and the players who finished sixth through 15th on the final 2007 Duramed Futures Tour money list at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament
