Three consecutive bogeys on her homeward nine holes put a dent in Stephanie Meadow’s chances of picking up an early-season Symetra Tour victory at the IOA Championships.
Meadow has been in stunning form of late having picked up a victory at the end of March on the Cactus Tour before landing a tied-6th finish at the Symetra Tour’s opening event in Florida.
However she was stuck in the mud on moving day in Beaumont, California and followed her 69 to start with a one-over-par round of 73 to sit on a two under total.
It was three bogeys in a row from 13 to 15 that did the damage but to the Jordanstown native’s credit, she bounced back with her second birdie of the day at the par-4 18th to put some gloss on her card.
Having returned from a serious L5 Pars fracture in recent months, Meadow is plying her trade between the local Cactus Tour in Arizona where she is honing her game and the Symetra Tour where she is aiming for a Top -10 that would get her back on the LPGA circuit for next season.
“Winning is winning, it doesn’t matter where it is,” she noted. “It’s just a learning curve. If you can get confidence any way you can do it and come out here and not feel kind of rusty. It’s only the second event of the year, but I’ve played a ton of Cactus (Tour) events, so I don’t feel like it’s the start of the year. I’ve never had that (feeling) before.”
Now seven shots off the pace, held by Swede, Jenny Haglund on nine-under-par, that win may be out of reach but another strong finish this evening will continue a fine early season start as Meadow’s game continues to trend in the right direction.
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