Rained-Out First Round Complete; Leon Maintains Lead

MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Aug. 11, 2007 – Members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour returned to The Pines Country Club this morning to complete the first round of the $80,000 Betty Puskar Golf Classic. Torrential rain and standing water rendered unplayable conditions and forced the suspension of the opening round Friday afternoon.

The first round resumed this morning at 7:15, but was suspended for fog at 7:31 a.m. Play resumed at 7:59 a.m. The second round began today at 10 a.m., with “lift, clean and place” conditions in effect for the second day.

Seventy-two players returned to the course to finish up the first round on a still-soggy, but now-sunny course. Early leader rookie Taylor Leon of Dallas maintained her position in front of the field, but two-time season winner Liz Janangelo moved within two shots of Leon’s lead this morning, completing her opening round at five-under-par 67. The native of West Hartford, Conn., currently is fourth on the Duramed FUTURES Tour’s money list with four tournaments remaining in the 2007 season.

Three players – D’Rae Ward of Weatherford, Texas, Vikki Laing of Musselburgh, Scotland and amateur Jessica Yadloczky of Casselberry, Fla. -- all fired rounds of four-under-par 68 on Friday before the weather suspensions, but they were joined by Kellee Booth of McKinney, Texas and Kelly Lagedrost of Brooksville, Fla., who completed their respective opening rounds this morning with rounds of 68 to move into a tie for third.

Also moving onto the leaderboard at three-under-par 69 after completing their washed-out first rounds was the trio of Kris Tamulis of Naples, Fla., Sofie Andersson of Angelholm, Sweden and Lisa Meldrum of Kirkland, Quebec.

Seven players are tied at two-under-par 70. A total of 38 players completed the first round under par 72.

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

Weather: Early-morning fog, burning off for sunny skies. Temperatures between 63-72 degrees, with a slight breeze.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (304) 284-0506 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.

Leon Grabs Early Lead In Rain-Suspended First Round

MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Aug. 10, 2007 – Rookie Taylor Leon picked today’s first round of the $80,000 Betty Puskar Golf Classic to card her career-low score of 65 in the rain-delayed tournament.

That seven-under-par total gave her a three-shot lead ahead of Vikki Laing of Musselburgh, Scotland, D’Rae Ward of Weatherford, Texas and college-bound amateur Jessica Yadloczky of Casselberry, Fla., all at four-under-par 68.

But Leon will have to wait a little longer to get started in Saturday’s second round as 72 players are forced to return to The Pines Country Club for a 7:15 a.m. restart to complete the opening 18. The second round will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Duramed FUTURES Tour officials initially suspended the first round for unplayable conditions today at 3:50 p.m., hoping to return to the course as heavy rains passed through the area. But with 3 ½ inches of rain soaking the course within the last week, considerable standing water made a restart impossible today. The course received more than a half-inch of rain today.

“We still have standing water on the greens, too much casual water and no way for players to get relief,” said Christy Barks, the Tour’s director of tournament operations. “The bunkers are starting to drain, but the fairways just need more time.”

Players will not be paired by score, but will remain in their first-round pairings for the second round. A flip-flop format will be used, with first-round morning tee times becoming second-round afternoon tee times, and vice versa.

“It’s too bad we had to suspend,” said two-time 2007 winner Liz Janangelo of West Hartford, Conn., currently fourth on the Tour’s money list. “I had a flow going out there.”

Janangelo is at four-under par after 12 holes, while Kris Tamulis of Naples, Fla., Kellee Booth of McKinney, Texas and Tiffany Tavee of Gilbert, Ariz., all had moved to three under when play was suspended.

But with the good fortune of being among the morning tee times that all completed the first round, Leon got off to her hot start before the rains came. And the rookie admits that her ability to go low quickly in this week’s 16th annual event was aided by the thought of something said to her during a pro-am earlier in the week.

It was a harmless comment by an amateur in her pro-am group, but it must have fired up the Texan when the gentleman observed that, as the current 23rd-ranked player, she “probably didn’t have time to move into the top five on the Tour’s money list before the season is over to get one of the 2008 LPGA Tour cards.”

“It made me kind of mad,” said Leon, of Dallas, who completed two years at the University of Georgia before turning professional this spring and winning her first pro title in her second event on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. “Of course I have a chance and I’m going to try my hardest to get there.”

Leon took advantage of the wet greens and carded eight birdies and one bogey en route to her seven-under-par 65. She hit 15 greens in regulation, missed only one fairway and rolled in 26 putts on a day that was as solid as it was wet.

“Where you hit it today was where it stuck,” she said. “I felt real confident going for the flagsticks.”

Laing was the first player to jump onto the leaderboard with her 68. She started on the back nine and bogeyed the 14th when she misfired on her approach-shot yardage and club selection. But the former collegian from the University of California-Berkeley got it right on the par-four 348-yard 15th hole. She hit driver, then had 91 yards to the hole. The Scot holed out from the fairway for an eagle-2 with her 52-degree wedge, then birdied holes 17 and 18 before making the turn.

“My whole focus this week was to be more creative because I’ve gotten too mechanical,” said Laing. “I did a pretty good job of it today and I stayed patient.”

Ward, a former non-exempt LPGA Tour member playing her first season on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, recorded seven birdies, one bogey and had her only real hiccup on the difficult 209-yard, par-three 17th hole. Ward went from the left bunker to the right bunker, then two-putted from 20 feet.

“That’s just golf,” laughed Ward, who needed only 27 putts. “I stuck it to three feet with a 3-wood in the Thursday pro-am and today… But overall, I hit it great and gave myself a lot of chances because these greens are like dart boards.”

Leaving home on August 18th for freshman orientation at the University of Florida, Yadloczky showed the kind of game that is sure to make the Gators a much-improved women’s golf team in the coming fall season. The teen carded a bogey-free round that included a 25-foot birdie on the eighth, a two-foot birdie on the 16th and an eagle-3 on the par-five 18th when she knocked a 5-wood to eight feet and drained the putt.

“I feel really relaxed and I’m just trying to enjoy the week,” said Yadloczky, 18, who qualified for the Tour last fall as an amateur and used the summer months playing against the pros as a tune-up for her freshman season. “I’m very satisfied today because I hit the ball well and my putting did a 360. I want to leave here in style.”

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

Weather: Overcast, humid and partly cloudy turning into heavy rain, fog and mist. High temperature of 84 degrees with winds between 5-10 mph.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (304) 284-0506 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.