Monday, June 8, 2009

Mina Harigae Wins Big on the Futures Tour

Huge win for Mina Harigae this past week on the Futures Tour! She went 64-67-69 to post a -16 total and win by 10 shots over Whitney Myers. She's now tops on their money list and 2 wins away from a battlefield promotion to the LPGA. Even more impressively, she finished light-years ahead of the new pros making their debuts at the Ladies Titan Tire Challenge. In case you're counting, Harigae was 14-up on Cindy LaCrosse, 17-up on Jennie Lee and Stephanie Connelly, 19-up on Pernilla Lindberg and Blair Lamb, and 22-up on Jane Chin. Maria Hernandez, the top women golfer on the NCAA this past season, missed the cut, as well as Lucy Nunn and Mallory Hetzel. But the newbies shouldn't feel too bad: Song Yi Choi, one of the best on the tour, missed the cut, as did Kristie Smith, who shot a 62 in Australia this season.

I wasn't kidding when I referred to the need to make a quantum leap to translate amateur into professional success. But they should be heartened by how quickly Harigae herself made the transition. Back in mid-March, I wondered how long it would take the player I predicted would be #2 on tour to bounce back from a disappointing college career. About 2 months, it turns out. Let's see how Amanda Blumenherst handles her 1st pro event next week!

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