After an incredible sudden-death saga, Stephanie Meadow will have to wait until Monday morning to finish out her four-player play-off for the final 2015 LPGA Tour card, after action was suspended due to darkness on Sunday night.
Bogeys on the 16th and 17th left her tied for 19th after the tournament’s fifth round, and fighting for a place in a seven-way play-off for the last three LPGA Tour cards.
She then parred the first and second holes of the three hole aggregate play-off and despite having a four-foot put for a birdie on the final play-off hole, she missed and had to be content with another par.
The miss meant that Meadow and five others were forced into a sudden death battle, which quickly transpired into herself and four others competing for the last card on offer.
Yet after a further hole still couldn’t separate them, darkness forced the action to be resumed in the morning.
Promising week
The 22-year-old had been in a somewhat comfortable position before the day’s action, and was in a tie for 14th position on seven under par after her fourth round on the Jones Course on Saturday.
Returning to the Hills Course on Sunday, where she hit a 66 in the tournament’s second round, a 71 a day earlier, and had even claimed a previous freshman tournament success, Meadow entered the round in confident mood. She admitted mid-week “I really like this course”.
Disappointing round
She needed to finish inside the top 20 to claim a “full-time” status on the LPGA Tour while players who finished between 21st and 45th will have “conditional” status.
Nonetheless all of her hard work was very nearly undone when it mattered most, finishing up with her worst round of the week, and a hugely disappointing score of 75 on the fifth.
The Jordanstown native started the round with consecutive birdies, before three straight bogeys quickly turned the mood. Another bogey on the ninth was countered with a birdie on the 14th, although back-to-back bogeys before the final hole had the warning sirens ringing loud and clear.
Meadow held it together though, slotting a five-footer on the 18th hole to stay at four under and qualify for the play-off.
The Antrim golfer, who finished third behind winner Michelle Wie on her professional debut in the US Open at Pinehurst back in June, shot one of the rounds of the day on Thursday which had left her just three of the lead. While this week may have offered much more of a mixed bag, she was able to put the poor round behind her and did enough to keep her dreams of a ‘full-time’ card alive during a solid play-off showing.
Winner
Before all that drama unfolded and there was actually another tie at the top end of the table, as 18-year-old Australian Minjee Lee and American Alison Lee shared the overall lead. Yet a play-off was not deemed necessary to determine a winner, so the pair shared the bragging rights.
