After two days of having a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, the Circling Raven Championship has a winner. Jillian Hollis played lights out for the final 18, signing for an 8-under par round. The Ohio native carded nine birdies and a lone bogey on the day.
“I’m feeling great,” said Hollis. “I feel like I’m dreaming.”
Hollis also broke the tournament’s 54-hole scoring record by two strokes. 2021 champion, Peiyun Chien originally held the record at 16-under.
“That’s awesome,” said Hollis. “That’s so great. It was getable today. I was enjoying myself and wasn’t counting and thinking I need to make another birdie. It felt really good out there, like all of my hard work was finally showing.”
After graduating from the Epson Tour, Hollis moved on to play on the LPGA Tour. She struggled with the jump and made some tough decisions regarding her career. Since returning to the Epson Tour, Hollis has once again found the love for the game she once had.
“It’s been a lot of work,” said Hollis. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. I wasn’t having fun on tour, so at the beginning of this year, I said I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m changing my life a bit and changing my attitude.”
“My goal this year was to be healthy and have fun,” said Hollis. “I put so much pressure on myself the last two years and then had an injury for most of 2021. To come full circle, it’s really cool. I’m so grateful for today.”
Robyn Choi finished solo second, at 16-under after signing for a final round of 6-under par. Choi carded six birdies on the day. This was her best finish to date.
Two strokes behind Choi, at 14-under was Alexa Pano. The rookie shot 7-under on the day, moving from T9 to solo third. She was bogey-free, with five of her seven birdies occurring on the front nine.
“I’m really happy with the overall outcome and how I played today,” said Pano. “I’m still really itching to get that first win, but I’m proud of how I played today.”
Rounding out the top five were Polly Mack, Gabriela Ruffels and Hyo Joon Jang. The trio finished the week at 13-under and recorded rounds of 5-under, 4-under and 3-under respectively.
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