WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Megan McChrystal birdied the 17th hole and went on to score a one-shot victory Sunday for her first professional title in the opening event of the 2012 Symetra Tour season.
The Symetra Tour is the new name for the LPGA Futures Tour. The top 10 money winners on the tour receive LPGA cards for the next year.
McChrystal posted a 5-under 216 total at the Lake Region Yacht and Country Club. She moved up the leaderboard in the second round on Saturday with a 6-under 66 that gave her the lead entering the final round. The Stuart, Fla., native had an early double bogey but her birdie on 17 gave her the win over runners-up Sara Maude Juneau and Nicole Smith at 4-under 217.
McChrystal, a three-time first-team All-SEC selection, won five tournaments at LSU and had 20 top 10 finishes in her career for the Lady Tigers and was part of the LSU squad that finished a program best third in last May’s NCAA Championships. She graduated from LSU in the spring and played six events on the developmental tour last season with a best finish of a tie for 12th.
Five players finished tied for fourth at 3-under 213 including defending champion Tzu-Chi Lin and 2005 U.S. Women’s Open champion Birdie Kim.
“I don’t have any words right now, it feels really good actually,” said McChrystal with a smile. “I’m speechless which is something different.
“It didn’t really shake me that much,” said McChrystal of her early double bogey. “I made a double the first round and I knew I was striking the ball really well. I hit my drive out to the right a little and I just went to the next hole and birdied the next one. That got a little bit of my momentum back on the next hole.”
With momentum regained, McChrystal proceeded to par the next 10 holes including missed birdie opportunities at holes 11, 12 and 13. The next blemish on the scorecard came after a bogey at the 14th followed by another bogey at the 16th. McChrystal then answered with her winning birdie on the par-3 17th after rolling in a 15-foot putt to take a one-stroke lead into 18.
“I figured I needed it,” said McChrystal. “I knew there were people at minus three but I figured that was wrong and I wanted to get it back to five under anyway.”
After a par at the par-5 18th McChrystal clinched her first professional victory and guaranteed herself entry into the remaining tournaments on the 2012 Symetra Tour schedule, along with a first prize check of $18,750.
“It changes my year a little bit, it means I get into all the events now,” said McChrystal. “It just makes me feel a little better to move my status up. It is definitely a huge relief to not have to worry about that. I have been stressing about it since Q-School.”