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Otteson Emerges As Leader In Storm-Delayed MASON, Ohio, June 21, 2008 – Stephanie Otteson of Wilson, N.C., dropped birdies on her final two holes to finish off a round of 2-under-par 69 and grab sole possession of the lead during a rain-delayed second round at The Duramed Championship. First-round co-leader Mindy Kim of Diamond Bar, Calif., is one shot back after firing a 1-under-par 70. Katie Allison of Little River, S.C., is in third after recording a 5-under-par 65, sharing the day’s lowest score with Sarah-Jane Kenyon of Queensland, Australia. Airhorns blared at 5:46 p.m. EDT to interrupt the afternoon and players were rushed into the clubhouse as play was halted because of lightning in the area. A 124-minute weather delay ensued and play was picked back up at 7:50 p.m. The temperature dropped into the mid-60s as play resumed, but the display of golf from the leading group of Otteson, Kim and Jessica Shepley (70) of Oakville, Ontario, was hotter than ever. The trio showed no signs of rust, as all three carded birdies on the 17th hole after the delay. Otteson converted an 18-foot birdie putt and Shepley rolled home a 30-foot birdie putt. Kim followed suit with a birdie of her own and dropped in an additional 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that sat on the lip of the cup before falling in. Otteson wasn’t to be outdone, countering with a six-foot birdie putt to grab solo lead of the tournament at 9-under par. The second-year pro from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington posted eight birdies in Friday’s first round. Her best finish is a seventh-place tie last year at the CIGNA Golf Classic in Bloomfield, Conn. She is primed for an encore following her season-best 12th-place finish last week at the Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship in Decatur, Ill. “I’m really excited, but I just have to keep trucking along because there’s still a lot of golf to be played,” Otteson said. “I really didn’t mind the break because it gave me a chance to refocus my mind.” Allison finished off her bogey-free round with five birdies to card the day’s lowest round with Kenyon. Allison was coming off an 11th-place showing at the Aurora Health Care Championship and broke through the top 10 at the Tour’s major championship in Illinois last week. “I’ve been trying to feel more comfortable with my short game to take the pressure off the long game,” Allison said. “I played the front nine different than yesterday and I had good, legitimate birdies. Seventy-six players made the cut at 4-over-par 146. Tee times for Sunday’s final round will be split off the first and 10th tees at 8 a.m. due to a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms projected to hit the area at 11 a.m. The leaders will tee off at 10 a.m. off the first tee.
Live radio coverage of Sunday’s final round will stream
from Noon-2 p.m. EDT courtesy of Teamline, found on the
Real-Time Scoring page at www.duramedfuturestour.com or
by visiting www.duramedchampionship.com. A second-round
podcast of Stephanie Otteson can be downloaded at the
above sites. Larsson Battles Back From Uncharacteristic First Round It’s rare to see Caroline Larsson’s name towards the bottom of the scoreboard, but the Stockholm, Sweden, product ended her first round in a tie for 102nd. A reversal of fortune was in order for the second-year professional on Saturday as she polished off a round of 4-under-par 67 with five birdies to highlight the morning play and pull into a 20th-place tie. Light-hearted Larsson laughed after enduring a “snowman” (8) on her third hole yesterday – a quadruple bogey scored on a par-4. She marched back into the top of the field today after posting back-to-back birdies on two occasions after opening her round with the only bogey on her scorecard. “I really wasn’t worried about making the cut,” Larsson said. “I didn’t get mad at it, because you’ve just got to laugh at a hole like that.” The Oakley-clad Swede kept improving her Korean vocabulary in the scoring tent, reading off her results in Korean to an impressed playing partner Stephanie Kim of Orlando, Fla. The South Korean players on Tour are continually amazed with Larsson’s effort to learn a new language. “She’s a special lady and keeps getting better all the time,” said Sae Hee Son of Seoul, South Korea. To read Larsson’s current blog about trying to learn Korean, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com. Sarah-Jane Kenyon’s Season-Long Odyssey Continues The worst-case scenario for Sarah-Jane Kenyon of Queensland, Australia, and her caddie Duane was a 24-hour roundtrip drive – in less than two days. Kenyon intended to drive to Pittsford, N.Y., to play a Monday qualifying round and attempt to get into the field at the Wegmans LPGA. That meant leaving after Sunday’s final round of the Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship in Decatur, Ill., to drive through the night and get ready for an 8 a.m. tee-time in upstate New York. If Kenyon had made the trip, but failed to qualify for the LPGA event, she and Duane would have completed the journey back to Ohio the same day in time to get ready for The Duramed Championship. Shortly after posting a 5-under-par 65 in her final round at the Tour’s major championship last week, Kenyon found herself patiently waiting out a 38-minute weather delay -- ultimately derailing her travel plans. The soft-spoken Aussie received an 8 GB Apple iPod Touch to continue Duramed’s promotion of the Sunday Low Round Award and opted to stay overnight in Illinois to make the comparatively short four-hour trek to Mason, Ohio, rather than attempting to Monday-qualify in New York. Kenyon, who has non-exempt LPGA Tour status, has made the most of only three appearances on the Duramed FUTURES Tour 2008 schedule while juggling six LPGA entries. She has posted two runner-up finishes in three starts on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, where her only professional win came in 2005. A well-rested Kenyon produced the day’s lowest score alongside Katie Allison. Kenyon capped off another stellar round with an approach shot on the 18th hole that had backspin and left her with a tap-in for birdie. Rookie Teen Raising Eyebrows With all eyes on Michelle Wie and 17-year-old Duramed FUTURES Tour two-time tournament winner Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Fla., at the Wegmans LPGA in Pittsford, N.Y., 16-year-old Hannah Yun of Bradenton, Fla., is still a relatively unknown fresh face on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. Competing in her third Tour event this week, Yun finished with a 1-under-par 70 in Friday’s first round to move into a tie for 13th. She is now at even par 142 in the tournament heading into Sunday’s final round tied for 20th. “I’ve definitely learned a lot this year,” Yun said. “I think I’m getting better each day playing in these tournaments.” It’s easy to forget Yun is still enjoying the simpler things in life, such as reclining in the backseat of the family’s Lincoln Navigator watching “House” on the built-in DVD player before her round. She is still working on building a strong rapport with her father and caddie, Changsu, on the greens. “That was one of our goals coming into this tournament,” Yun said. “Sometimes we see different things out there and today it was all about putting.” The former Florida Gator will be joined by another teenage Florida All-American teammate, Jessica Yadloczky of Casselberry, Fla., for the Tour events in London, Ky., and Richmond, Va. Yun is excited to see her friend, but remembers the times when Yadloczky would give her kids’ menus in restaurants. “We’ll have to think of something to bet on,” Yun said. “I know there will be some trash talking going on, but it will be really good to see her.” Scorecard Summary
Stephanie Otteson (64-69=133, -9) Contact: Ben Schlesselman, 386-274-6228, Ben@duramedfuturestour.com. |
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