Of the 132 athletes teeing it up at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, sponsor exemption Yana Wilson has found a way to set herself apart from the rest of the field. The 17-year-old is not currently leading the tournament but was able to jump up 13 spots on the leaderboard on Saturday, going from 17th to T4, thanks to three eagles in the second round. Wilson took advantage of the par 5s on Moving Day, making eagle on the Country Club of Winter Haven’s 9th, 11th, and 13th holes.
Three eagles in five holes 🤯🤯@yana54lv had an intense second round scorecard at the #FLNatCC and is currently T5!#Road2LPGA | @AJGAGolf pic.twitter.com/UPwxSwQ7Oc
— Epson Tour (@EpsonTour) March 9, 2024
The American Junior Golf Association star was 4-under through six holes before going bogey, eagle, bogey, eagle, par, eagle on holes eight through 13. Wilson made two long putts for eagle on two of the three holes, holing a 10-footer on No. 9 and a 40-footer on the par-5, 13th hole.
“It was kind of hectic, kind of up and down, a rollercoaster round,” said Wilson. “I kept my emotions pretty even, though. I didn’t really care about the outcome too much, and I feel like I got pretty lucky on those eagles.”
Heading into the final round, Wilson is keeping her goals the same. Knowing her game is in a good spot, the Nevada native is just looking forward to the opportunity to be in tournament competition mode before heading to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April. Getting to tee it up in Winter Haven, Fla., this week was a privilege, and now she gets to play Sunday golf against some of the best players in the world.
“I’m going to keep my plan to have no expectations still because I feel like that’s worked for me throughout the week,” said Wilson. “I played in a Cactus Tour event, and I feel like that helped me because I played with some pretty good names – Sophia Popov and Antonia Malate, who’s playing this week. That helped me prepare for this event, and I know my potential. I’m ready to tee it up tomorrow.”
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