(2 July 2012 – Harris, Michigan)
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America&aposs Leah Wigger opened her final round at the Island Resort Championship with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1 & 2 and never looked back en route to a three-stroke victory over Victoria Elizabeth, Victoria Park and Nicole Jeray.
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Wigger’s win is the second of her career on the Symetra Tour and first since 2008 when she won the AMERICAN SYSTEMS Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla. She shot a final-round 2-under par 70 to finish at 7-under for the tournament. Wigger went on to card only one bogey on No. 9 and followed it up with her third and last birdie of the day on No. 10.
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rnWigger said her strong start scared her at first, saying that opening up with birdies tends to go against a feeling she likes to have at the beginning of her rounds.
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rn“Sometimes I don’t like starting out birdie,” said Wigger. “I’m a little superstitious. But draining that second birdie I think helped a lot.”
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rnWigger’s 30-foot birdie putt on the 2md saw her take a three-stroke lead over Aimee Neff, who fought back, carding birdies on the 4th and the 8th to make things all square at the turn. The two good friends said they were happy at that point to give the crowd a show.
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rn“We actually said I guess we’re trying to make this interesting for everybody,” said Wigger. “It was going to be a nine-hole shootout at the end and it worked out in my favor.”
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rnNeff would go on to card three bogeys on the back nine to slip out of contention while Wigger followed up her bogey on No. 9 with her last birdie of the day on the 10th hole.
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rn“That definitely helped because I bogeyed No. 9 and hit it in the water off the tee,” said Wigger. “So to be able to bounce back with a birdie definitely helped.”
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rnDown the stretch, Wigger admitted to not looking at any scoreboards and did not know where she stood until she found herself in trouble on No. 18.
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rn“I don’t like looking at scoreboards,” said Wigger. “I actually had to ask Vicky when I hit it in the bunker on No. 18, ‘where do I stand?’ so I could make my decision whether I had to go for it or not because I really didn’t want to hit that shot.”
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rnFellow Tour player Victoria Alimonda Lovelady and friend of Wigger’s was on the bag for her on Sunday after she missed the cut. “It made my decision a lot easier because it wasn’t a good time to be stupid,” said Wigger. “Knowing that I had a three-shot lead made it a lot easier.”
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rnWigger played her final shots safe and closed out the tournament to earn her second-career victory. A group of friends stormed the 18th green and doused her with plenty of water to get her soaked in victory.
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rnWigger was quick to point out that in both wins she came into the final round with the lead and that she’s proud of her ability to finish off an entire weekend of work.
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rn“Both times I’ve won, I came in with the lead. So I know I can close!”
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rnAsked how she’ll celebrate No. 2, she said with her luck, she might be found in the casino at the Island Resort.
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rnThe best of the Australians was Julia Boland who finished in a tie for 19th while Courtney Massey (T36), Emma De Groot (T40), Cathryn Bristow (T46) and Kristie Smith (T59) all made the cut.