(10 April 2011 – Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico)
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California&aposs Ryann O&aposToole held off two of her best friends over the final holes today to win the $125,000 Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic presented by Pepsi. She started the final round tied for tenth, four shots off the lead, and proceeded to card a bogey-free round with six birdies to post a winning score of 8-under par at El Tigre Golf & Country Club in coastal Mexico. Two good friends; Dawn Shockley (69) and Nicole Smith (69) tied for second at 7-under par.
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rnThe long-hitting O’Toole started her year on the ALPG Tour with a win at the NRE Gujurat Short Course Challenge at Russell Vale and a 4th place finish at the ANZ RACV Ladies Masters.
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rn“It’s just nice to get the season off to a great start,” said O’Toole, 24, who earned her third career LPGA Futures Tour title with the win. “Dawn and I were going head-to-head in the same group all day and I knew I had to bring 100 percent of my game.” Shockley’s birdie attempt to force a tie lipped out on the 18th hole.
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rnShockley, a second-year pro out of the University of Denver, also played a number of tournaments in Australia early in the year. Her best finish was T20 at the Bing Lee/Samsung NSW Women’s Open. Playing with O’Toole she rocked into contention with an eagle-3 on the fifth hole, followed by three consecutive birdies. But O’Toole answered with a birdie from 40 feet on No. 5, another birdie from 35 feet from off the green on No. 6, and a 20-foot birdie on the ninth hole.
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rn“She putted awesome today,” said Shockley. “I was playing well, but Ryann drained two long birdie putts on top of mine. What can you do about that?”
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rnSmith charged up the leaderboard on the back nine with birdies on four of her last seven holes, picking up momentum on the homestretch with a 15-foot birdie on the 16th, and added another birdie on 17 from 12 feet to tie O’Toole at 8-under.
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rnIn the end, an errant tee shot into the right rough on the final hole forced Smith to punch out and try to salvage her par to maintain a share of the lead. The former University of Tennessee player could not convert her tricky 40-foot par putt, dropping the vital stroke on the final green.
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rn“I knew Ryann was going to shoot something like 5-under today and I knew I had to do the same,” said Smith, who met O’Toole in a junior tournament when they were 12 years old. “This is bittersweet, especially to lose because of a poor drive, but if I can’t win, I’d rather have my best friend finish in front of me.”
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rnO’Toole credited patience for today’s win, saying that after losing shots late on the previous two days, she came into the final round with a more conservative approach on the par-73 course.
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rn“I’ve been silly going for pins that weren’t accessible, so today, I played it safe, didn’t press, and it paid off,” said O’Toole, who hit 15 greens and 12 fairways in regulation and needed only 28 putts. “Sometimes I just want to go for every flag, so I’ve had to learn that it’s not always smart.”
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rnThe best of the Australians was Alison Whitaker who finished in a tie for 61st at 7-over par while Leanne Bowditch also made the cut, finishing in a tie for 76th.