FORT MYERS, Fla. – Lauren Clark and Christa Johnson claimed their well-deserved victories at the Florida Women’s Open & Senior Open at the Forest Country Club. Clark fired a final round of three-under-par, 69 for a tournament total of five-under-par. Clark claimed her wire-to-wire victory by five strokes over the field. Johnson also posted a tournament total of five-under-par to claim the victory by two strokes for the Senior Division. In addition, Alexandra White captured the low-professional win and brought home $10,000 after securing a third place finish with scores of 74-69-74.
Open Division
Lauren Clark took the lead during the first round and never gave it up. She fired a two-under-par 70 and posted five birdies over the 18 holes. Clark competed last week in the Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship where she found herself in contention and in the final pairing on the last day. She explained how it felt coming straight into this tournament, “When you have back-to-back tournaments, it’s really easy to get momentum going. For me, I did not finish off where I wanted to at the WASP, so it really made me go back and work hard for two days and then come straight into this practice round. It’s easy to get momentum and keep it, so hopefully I can ride that momentum through.” However, the second round Clark had to fight to retain her lead. She got off to a rough start, but stayed patient in order to find her way back to par. “Overall, I really just tried to stay patient and hit greens, make putts, and put myself in position to make putts.”
Also in the mix throughout the tournament was defending champion, Jordan Fischer. Fischer posted rounds of 71-72 to enter into the final round only one stroke off the lead. The LSU rising sophomore carded a 78 in the final round to fall out of contention. However, Alexandra White fired a three-under-par, 69 during the second round to move up the leaderboard ten places and only one stroke away from the lead. The final round was an exciting one as it came down to Clark and White battling it out for the win. The two competitors remained within two strokes of each other until late in the back nine. White fell victim to a bogey on the 15th hole to give one back to Clark. Bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes gave Clark a five stroke win over the field. Clark said of her win, “I feel like I’ve been so close for so long that this is just an added bonus. I’ve been playing good golf and this is just the cherry on top.”
However, White did not walk away empty handed as she earned low professional honors and a $10,000 check. In addition, Valentina Rossi secured second place with scores of 74-70-72.
Senior Division
Christa Johnson had a hot start to her tournament posting a six-under-par 30 on her first nine. She finished the day in a share of the lead with Leta Lindley at four-under-par. Johnson described her mindset, “I play point A golf, which means there’s no point B. It’s always new, and it’s always one shot, one shot, and then another shot and you do the best you can on each shot.” However, she fell victim to a few bogeys on the second nine while at the same time, Lindley heated up. Lindley posted three birdies on her bogey free back nine.
Consistency was key for Christa Johnson as she fired another four-under-par, 68 to extend her lead to three shots over the field. Johnson carded five birdies over the 18 holes. Leta Lindley sat in second place at five-under-par, and Tara Joy-Connelly and Jackie Gallagher-Smith shared third place at even par.
The final pairing was set of Johnson, Lindley, and Joy-Connelly. Johnson started the day with a three stroke lead and extended it to a four stroke lead heading into the back nine. However, she hit a few rough holes and by the 15th hole, Lindley trailed Johnson by only a stroke. Yet, a birdie on 16 brought Johnson back to a two stroke lead which she secured ultimately secured her win on the 18th holes. “It feels really good to win. I didn’t play as well today as I did the first two days, but I stayed patient and found some peace in there somewhere, and found some speed in my swing and I really learned a lot, so I am very happy about coming here to play.”
Jackie Gallagher-Smith finished in third place and Tara Joy-Connelly secured fifth place along with low amateur honors.
