Fankhauser Still The Leader After Two Rounds In Connecticut

BLOOMFIELD, Conn., July 14, 2007 – Mollie Fankhauser maintained her lead after the second round of the $80,000 CIGNA Golf Classic, once again holding on to a three-shot cushion at 137 (-7).

“I was hitting the ball close, but I just didn’t make the putts today,” said Fankhauser of Columbus, Ohio, who hit 16 greens, but needed 32 putts today at Gillette Ridge Golf Club. “At least they were hitting the cup.”

Fankhauser practiced patience today with 14 consecutive pars that included one up-and-down for par on the 14th hole. She rolled in a 10-footer for birdie on the 15th, and a three-foot birdie on the 16th in a bogey-free round of two-under-par 70.

With a steady afternoon breeze picking up, Fankhauser called it a “guessing game” to pick the right club and to hold the firm greens. While she denies playing “conservatively,” Fankhauser battled mostly to remain patient after 14 holes of pars. At that point, she saw that Annie Young was making a run at her and had moved to within one shot.

“I had no idea what was going on until around the 13th green when Annie had it to four under,” said Fankhauser, who had held on to a one-shot lead in spite of no birdies.

Young rolled in birdies on holes 2, 5, 11 and 13 and seemed to be picking up momentum for the closing holes, but then her tee shot on the par-three 15th hole caught a cart path and bounced into the woods. Young chipped, but couldn’t get up and down for par from 20 feet. She took double bogey.

She saved par on the 16th with a 10-yard chip from above the bunker face, but lost another shot with a bogey on the 17th hole.

“I was sort of cruising along and then I had that double on 15,” said Young of Highland, Utah, who finished with an even-par 72 to drop into a tie for fourth at 143 (-1) with Nicole Melton (72) of San Antonio, Texas and Ji Min Jeong (73) of Kyungki, Korea.

“There’s still a lot of golf to play,” said Young, a third-year pro.

Rookie professional Taylor Leon carded her second consecutive round of two-under-par 70 to move into second place at 137 (-7). The 20-year-old native of Dallas hit only 10 greens in regulation today, but rolled in 26 putts to put herself in contention in only her second tournament this year.

“How I played in college was pretty good and it’s definitely different now that it’s something I do for a living,” said Leon, the 2007 SEC Championship winner who left the University of Georgia after two years this spring. “But it’s all about getting the ball into the hole at the end of the day, it’s all about a score. I came into the week wanting to win and I’m definitely ready to get over the hump.”

Leon, who won twice while at Georgia, said her “putting was there to save me” today in a round that featured a fair amount of scrambling. She got up and down for par on the second hole, bogeyed the third when she missed the green and then carded five birdies and two more bogeys, punctuating her round with a 40-foot birdie on the 18th hole.

“I like seeing leaderboards because it gives me a little push,” said Leon, who finished 12th in the Tour’s event in Decatur, Ill., in her pro debut.

Playing in only her third event this season as a pro, rookie Stephanie Otteson of Wilson, N.C., carded her second consecutive round of 71 to move into third place alone at 142 (-2). The recent University of North Carolina-Wilmington player turned in a round that featured four bogeys, three birdies and one eagle, when she holed out from the 10th fairway.

The trio of Brandi Jackson (69) of Greenville, S.C., hometown player Liz Janangelo (70) of West Hartford, Conn., and Courtney Erdman (73) of Altadena, Calif., are tied at even-par 144 at the ninth annual event in the Greater Hartford area.

In perhaps the day’s oddest incident, rookie Kailin Downs of Bend, Ore., was disqualified when she ran out of golf balls. Downs says she started the round with “seven or eight” Callaway HX Tour balls in her bag, but it was a day in which she “put a whole bunch in the hazards.” She finally ran out on the seventh hole, which was her 16th, when her errant shot sailed into the woods. The one-ball rule states that a contestant may borrow a ball from fellow contestants if all are using like brands, but the other two players in Downs’ group were both using Titleist balls.

“It’s not the goal to play bad and need more golf balls,” said Downs, who opted to remain with her group as a scorekeeper for the last three holes of the round. “This was a first.”

The tournament field was cut to the low 70 players and ties after the completion of two rounds. Seventy-two players made the 36-hole cut at 155 (+11).

The final round of this week’s 54-hole event will begin Sunday at 8 a.m., off the first tee only. The leaders will tee off at 11:27 a.m.

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

Weather: Mostly sunny and fair, turning to partly cloudy in the afternoon with a high temperature of 84 degrees. Winds around 12 mph, gusting up to 21 mph.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (860) 243-2042 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.