13TH ILLINOIS WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Tournament Information
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Final Results
Schachner
outlasts Pearson in marathon 10-hole sudden-death playoff
to win Illinois Women's Open
ROMEOVILLE, IL - (July
28) It took nearly eight mentally-grueling hours, but
Libertyville amateur Nicole Schachner finally outlasted
Wheaton pro Jenna Pearson to win the 13th Illinois Women’s
Open Championship with a par on the tenth hole of sudden
death. Schachner, a University of Florida sophomore,
two-putted from 13 feet and then watched Pearson three-putt
from 12 feet to end the marathon at Mistwood Golf Club
in Romeoville.
Schachner started the day three shots off the lead
at even par 144; Pearson was two back. Pearson tied
Schachner at 1-under 215 with a birdie tap-in on the
final hole of regulation after missing an eagle putt
that would have given her the outright victory. After
a four-hole, aggregate score playoff, the two remained
tied so the overtime reverted to sudden death.
The twosome played Mistwood’s 528-yard, par-5
third hole twice in the aggregate playoff and another
six times until the finish.
"I’ve never seen anything like it,"
said Schachner, who sat out her freshman year of eligibility
at Florida with a broken wrist. "We played that
third hole eight straight times and each of us made
two-putt pars the first seven times. Winning this championship
is an honor, and to do it like that makes it really
special. It was too bad one of us had to lose."
Pearson, the defending champion and a regular on the
Futures Tour, will take home about $2,800 of the $12,000
purse and she earned an extra thousand for being the
Low Pro.
The leader going into the final round, 17-year-old
Samantha Sloan of Lansing, saw her one-shot margin disappear
for good when she made a quadruple-bogey eight on the
first hole.
The Illinois Women’s Open is a 54-hole stroke
play format, with an $11,000 purse plus $1,000 to the
low professional. The champion will also receive the
Elaine M. Rosenthal Memorial trophy.
Entries were open to all professionals and amateurs
who are residents of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota,
Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Michigan and students
currently enrolled in a college in those states. Players
had to be 17 years-old as of July 26, 2007, although
special exemptions were considered.
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