Francella Earns First Professional Win on Duramed FUTURES Tour

LAKELAND, Fla., March 12, 2006 -- For several holes on the front nine, Meaghan Francella found her shoulders tensing up and her nerves starting to kick in as her fellow competitors turned up the heat in the final round of the $70,000 Lakeland Duramed FUTURES Classic.

But to cave in to that pressure would have been the old Meaghan Francella. This week, the newly revamped scrapper from New York turned up her own heat and turned off the self-doubt to win her first professional title. Francella put together rounds of 69-70-70 to win by one shot at seven-under-par 209 at Cleveland Heights Golf Course at the Tour's season-opening tournament.

She edged Allison Fouch (70) of Grand Rapids, Mich., who took a career-best second at 210 (-6) and hard-charging Cristina Baena (70) of Pereira, Colombia, who finished third at 211 (-5). That duo got Francella's attention when Baena grabbed a two-shot lead during the final round, but ultimately lost ground on the last six holes. Fouch birdied two of her last three holes, forcing Francella, playing in the final pairing, to make par to win.

"I can't even tell you how relieved I am," said Francella, 23, of Port Chester, N.Y., who pocketed $9,800 for her first winner's check. "It must be all the candles my mom lit today. My dad said she's going to burn down the church with all of those candles and prayers."

But if there were a fire, it was somewhere deep down in the belly of the middle-class Irish-Italian kid who grew up just north of New York City. And that little raging inferno started last December when the fiery competitor's slow burn cost her a full LPGA Tour card for 2006. Advancing into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by virtue of finishing in the top 15 of the 2005 FUTURES Tour Money List, Francella needed only to shoot one-under-par for her full card. After several wobbly holes on her back nine, she completely unraveled and limped in to earn the last available non-exempt LPGA Tour card. Her full LPGA status would have to wait another year.

Then as recently as two weeks ago, she unsuccessfully tried to Monday-qualify at the two LPGA tournaments in Hawaii. Coming up short in both attempts for two spots in the tournament fields, Francella wondered aloud if playing professional golf was what she really wanted to do. After all, her on-course performance displayed more peaks and valleys than a troubled EKG. But instead of wallowing in self-doubt, she visited her sport psychologist in North Carolina and buckled down for two months of intense off-season training with long-time swing coach Tom Patri in Naples, Fla.

"By nature, she's not an extremely patient person, but she showed a lot of patience today and a whole new level of maturity on the golf course," said Patri, openly shedding tears for the player he has taught since she was 14. "Meaghan is driven by success. She was put on this earth to compete and she finally got to Step One. This is the start."

Francella started today's final round with a one-shot lead and remained at even par until she rolled in a five-footer for birdie on the sixth hole. But by that time, Baena had rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the second hole to card six birdies on the front nine and make the turn at five-under-par 31.

"She is officially on fire," said pairings partner Danielle Downey of Spencerport, N.Y., shaking her head after watching Baena drain a 30-footer on the tricky ninth green.

Baena, who earned her first win last season, appeared poised to take charge on the back nine with a two-shot lead over Francella, but a bogey at 10 and a double-bogey at 13 in a water hazard dropped the Colombian back into a tie with the New Yorker.

"I've been changing my swing, so I know good things and bad things can come of it," said Baena, who hit 14 greens and rolled in 27 putts for her two-under-par score of 70.

Baena fought back with a tap-in birdie on 14, but lost another shot on the 17th with her second three-putt green. Meanwhile, Fouch was turning up the pressure down the stretch with birdies from five feet and eight feet on the 16th and 17th holes respectively, to draw within a shot of Francella.

"Meaghan started getting worried about other scores in the field and I told her to just play her game and make her birdies coming in," said Adam McDaid, a club professional and long-time friend of Francella who served as her caddie. "She was starting to rush through her routine instead of just letting it come to her. We had to slow that down."

Fouch was now the only player standing between Francella and the win, but the former Michigan State University collegian hit her approach off the back of the 18th green and could do no better than par. Behind her in the final group, Francella saved par from 15 feet on the 16th, rolled in a five-footer for par on the 17th and headed to the last tee.

All eyes were on Francella when her drive on the final hole landed in the left rough less than five feet away from a tree. Concerned both with striking the tee in her backswing, as well as how the ball would react from a thin, sandy lie, the New Yorker elected to be short, rather than long on her approach. She hit her pitching wedge short, then chipped to five feet. When her putt finally rolled into the bottom of the cup, Francella looked as if the weight of Manhattan had slipped off her back.

"After LPGA Q-School last year, I felt such a letdown after I had played so well," said the former University of North Carolina All-American. "But I looked back on it and decided there obviously was a reason why I didn't get my full LPGA card this year. I know the [Duramed] FUTURES Tour prepares you so much for the LPGA and I wouldn't be where I am right now if I hadn't been out here for the last two years."

That was the new Meaghan Francella talking. That was a new champion who finally got out of her own way and shifted from the flush-cheeked impatient player to one who let her clubs demonstrate what was really in her heart.

"I think it's a turning point of things to come this year because she has the heart of a true competitor," said Tour member Briana Vega of Andover, Mass., who played against Francella while at North Carolina State University.

"She's been waiting for this opportunity forever," added Tour member Meghan Little of Sturgis, S.D. "It was just her time."

And for Francella, it has been a long time coming.

For scores and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 80s with light wind.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (863) 709-9100, Ext. 2 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.