FireKeeper Casino Hotel Championship Final News and Notes

FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship
Battle Creek Country Club
Battle Creek, Mich.
June 8, 2014
Final Round News & Notes

MSU Grad Caroline Powers Closes Strong
Iacobelli Makes Volvik Race for the Card Move of the Week
Min Seo Kwak Takes Early Lead in Potawatomi Cup Standings
Kwak Wins Epson Swift Award


BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (June 8, 2014) – Min Seo Kwak shot a tournament-best 7-under 65 in the final round of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship to sprint past the field for her second Epson Tour win of the season. She finished at 12-under for the tournament, three strokes clear of Daniela Iacobelli.

With the win and the $15,000 paycheck, Kwak is now first on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Kwak started the day five shots behind Jean Reynolds, who led after two rounds at 10-under-par. Kwak made seven birdies against no bogeys to fly up the leaderboard.

Kwak started her day with five straight pars before a birdie on the sixth hole. She also made birdie on the eighth hole to make the turn at 2-under. She used four straight birdies from the 14th through the 17th holes to steal the show and calmly made par on the 18th hole to seal the win.

“Today my driver was in the fairway every time. I missed one green. I had really short birdie chances and made them all so that was a good thing.”

The Seoul, South Korea native has positioned herself for a return to the LPGA in 2015. She now has a chance to return to the LPGA in 2014 if she wins a third event.

“I’m number one so I am ok this year to just go out and play fun golf. I think I will win one more and just go to the LPGA this year. That’s my goal.”

In addition to her winner’s check, Kwak took home checks for winning the Swift Award and the first leg of the 2014 Potawatomi Cup.


MSU GRAD CAROLINE POWERS CLOSES STRONG: Michigan State grad Caroline Powers used a final round 67 (-5) to jump from a tie for 18th into a tie for 4th, her best finish of the year.

“My putter was really behaving today,” Powers explained. “I was playing better. I hit 16 greens which always helps and when you hit a few putts it gives you confidence going into the rest of the round. It was a pretty easy day and a few of them fell.”

An Ohio native, Powers was excited to be back playing in the Midwest.

“Oh my gosh I couldn’t wait,” Powers said. “It’s gone by really fast but I couldn’t wait to get back especially on a good old northern style country club. This is the style of golf I grew up playing so I was so excited to
get back and glad to be around here for a few weeks.”

Powers tallied six birdies against a lone bogey with her college roommate and good friend Kristen Henn on the bag. Henn was a member of the Michigan State Field Hockey team.

“It was so fun,” Powers said. “My brother had to go back to work and she wasn’t doing anything. She’s played golf a few times. She got to take out the pin a few times and thought that was awesome. It was just fun. We were having a good time. She doesn’t know much about golf so if I hit a bad shot she doesn’t really care.”

Powers has been playing strong as of late including qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in two weeks.

“That was really breaking through a threshold for me,” Powers explained. “I’ve had a lot of rounds where I make a lot of birdies but also make a lot of mistakes so that was the first round that I’ve really had where I make birdies and don’t follow them up with mistakes. I feel like I broke through that glass ceiling a little bit.”

IACOBELLI MAKES VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD MOVE OF THE WEEK: Daniela Iacobelli fired a season-best 5-under 67 to finish solo second at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship.

“I’ve been hitting the ball great for a while now and have just been waiting for everything to come together and the last three days it was almost there. I could have done better yesterday but it was a good week,” Iacobelli.

Iacobelli played a clean round with five birdies and no bogeys. She carded three consecutive birdies between the 8th and tenth holes.

The Viera, Florida native also made birdie on the par-4 13th before closing her day with five consecutive pars including a tough par putt on the 18th hole to the ovation of the large crowd gathered at the 18th.

“I think Battle Creek is pretty pumped to have us out here,” Iacobelli said. “It’s nice to see a community come together and come out to see some good golf.”

With her second place finish and $9,249 paycheck, Iacobelli jumped from 59th to 18th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

“I’m looking forward to Decatur next week,” Iacobelli said. “I going to have some fun down there. We’ve got three weeks to go and can only go up from here so I’m looking forward to it.”

Iacobelli is hoping for a return to the LPGA. She finished fifth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in 2012 when she won the Daytona Beach Invitational and jumped from 22nd to fifth.

MIN SEO KWAK TAKES EARLY LEAD IN POTAWATOMI CUP STANDINGS: With her victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, Min Seo Kwak takes the early lead in the Potawatomi Cup Standings with $3,000.

A new addition to the 2014 Epson Tour season, the Potawatomi Cup awards Epson Tour players a bonus based on performance at events sponsored by four Potawatomi nations’ casinos. A total of $40,000 will be awarded, with $8,500 available each week, and an additional $6,000 going to the Potawatomi Cup winner.

The next chance for players to move up the Potawatomi Cup standings will be at the Four Winds Invitational in South Bend, Indiana from June 20-22.

KWAK WINS EPSON SWIFT AWARD: The Epson Tour — Road to the LPGA announced Sunday that Min Seo Kwak is the recipient of the 2014 Epson Swift Award. The award is presented to the player with the fastest start to the season recognized by her number one spot on the money list at the Tour’s midway point.

Kwak was presented a check for $1,500 on June 8, 2014, at the conclusion of play at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Mich., the 10th of the 2014 Epson Tour’s 20 tournaments.

In addition to the prize money, Epson will make a donation of $1,000 in Kwak’s name to the charity of her choice. Kwak has positioned herself as a clear-cut favorite