No, I'm not talking about my Futures Tour faves Mina Harigae, Tiffany Joh, and Hannah Yun making like Ryo Ishikawa at the Open this week in New England. Nor am I talking about my #6 preseason pick Song-Yi Choi making like Steve Marino on a Turnberry weekend by following up an opening 64 with a 73 and a 74 and dropping completely out of the top 20. No, I'm talking about '08 Curtis Cupper and Q-School disappointment Alison Walshe getting to -12 for the tournament after a flawless 33 on the front, only to follow it up with a triple and 5 bogeys on the back for a 42 that allowed Australian Kristie Smith to pass her with her 2nd 66 of the week, along with South Korean Aimee Cho and American Hannah Jun, and take even runner-up honors away from her. And I'm talking about Sofie Andersson finding herself suddenly in the hunt down the stretch and responding with 2 bogeys and a walkoff triple in her last 4 holes to plummet out of the top 10. Not quite Tom Watson level, but for someone at the start of her pro career, pretty tough to deal with nonetheless.
Amid all that heartbreak, a gleam of hope emerged for winner Dewi Claire Schreefel, who played steady golf after an opening bogey--15 pars and 2 birdies the rest of the way. Like Walshe, she disappointed at last season's LPGA Q-School, but wasn't setting the FT on fire, unlike Walshe, who had been a top 10er on their money list for most of the season. But now, Walshe and Schreefel are in the #6 and #7 spots. Sometimes slow and steady does win the race. We'll see how this one turns out.
[Update 1 (6:25 pm): Here are the official results. Note that U.S. Women's Open low amateur Jennifer Song helped sweeten the pot for #1-on-the-FT Jean Reynolds and others at T8, but that you really only make serious money with a win or runner-up on this tour.]
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