ITURRIOS FINDS HER WAY INTO WINNER’S CIRCLE
A final round 1-under par 71 was enough for Nuria Iturrios (Mallorca, Spain) to clinch a wire-to-wire victory at the inaugural Zimmer Biomet Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez, stepping into the winner’s circle for the first time in her Epson Tour career.
The victory is the latest in a string of success for Iturrios over the last month. Within a week between the end of April and early May, the 23-year-old captured back-to-back titles on the Ladies European Tour (LET) in the Lalla Meryem Cup and Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.
“I guess I like the big purses,” Iturrios said laughingly. “It’s so good to win again and I’m so happy with my work from the offseason. I feel great and want to keep going like this. I’m putting really good and I want to keep enjoying these moments, doing the work to get here.”
With the support of LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, this event featured the largest purse in Epson Tour history of $300,000. In turn, it provided the biggest winner’s payout ever on the “Road to the LPGA” at $45,000.
“I think it’s a really good thing that she helped make this event possible,” said Iturrios. “Really good for us to have her as an idol and I hope she can help create more events like this. We really enjoyed the tournament and it would be great to win more like this. I have to play like this again with a lot of weeks to go, but my goal is LPGA Tour as soon as possible."
SZERYK RECORDS BEST FINISH AS A PRO
Playing in the first final grouping of her professional career, 2019 Epson Tour rookie Maddie Szeryk (London, Ontario, Canada) stood her ground when tested this afternoon on the Lake Course at Grand National to capture the best result out of her first eight starts.
The Texas A&M University alumna found double bogey on the par-5 4th, but went bogey-free with three birdies the rest of the way to shoot 1-under par 71 in the final round. At 10-under overall, two strokes was the difference between her finish and forcing a playoff.
“It’s huge and I definitely played really well, this is the best finish of the year,” Szeryk said. “I’m really excited to take this momentum into the next few tournaments and build on it. I had a rough hole early, but was able to come back from it and find myself in the mix.”
VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD STANDINGS AFTER WEEK EIGHT
Following the eighth tournament of the 2019 Epson Tour season, the Volvik Race for the Card welcomes a fresh top-10.
The victory and $45,000 winner’s check move Nuria Iturrios up 33 places to No. 3, having earned $53,508 across seven starts this season. Here is a look at the current top-10 heading into the second annual Valley Forge Invitational at Raven’s Claw Golf Club in Pottstown, Pa. from May 31-June 2:
1. Leona Maguire (County Cavan, Ireland) - $74,993
2. Julieta Granada (Asuncion, Paraguay) - $54,802
3. Nuria Iturrios - $53,508
4. Jillian Hollis (Rocky River, Ohio) - $39,885
5. Perrine Delacour (Paris, France) - $38,011
6. Maddie Szeryk - $33,631
7. Maria Parra (Guadiaro, Spain) - $33,221
8. Min Seo Kwak (Seoul, Republic of Korea) - $31,661
9. Cydney Clanton (Concord, North Carolina) - $31,204
10. Ssu-Chia Cheng (Taipei, Chinese Taipei) - $28,022
NOTABLE QUOTES
Maddie Szeryk (-10, 2nd) on what she learned from competing in the final grouping:
“She [Nuria] played really solid all day and she stayed even. Earlier she was in a little trouble, but then saved some pars and found some momentum to get going. Definitely learned from that a bit. Even if you don’t hit a great shot there is a lot of golf left.”
Perrine Delacour (-8, 3rd) on her finish today and capturing back-to-back top-five finishes:
“Just a little disappointed because I had the victory I felt today. I missed a lot of 10-foot putts for birdie. It’s a top-five and I’m still pretty happy about that because I made one last week as well, had good vibes for today. I learned a lot from the past two weeks and I know what I need to work on.”
Linnea Johansson (-7, 4th) on her final round 3-under par 69 and overall performance in Opelika:
“I’m super happy with the finish and I played really, really great golf today. I had a lot of opportunities and I played awesome. Didn’t finish as strong as I would have liked to, but it’s a top-five and I played great all week. There is a lot of good things to take with me for the rest of the season.”
PLAYER NOTES
Nuria Iturrios
- Iturrios, 23, is a native of Mallorca, Spain
- Member of the Ladies European Tour (LET) since 2016 with total of 36 starts
- Stepped into winner’s circle for the first time as a professional at the 2016 Lalla Meryem Cup
- Rookie on the Epson Tour in 2018 competed in 19 events and made 11 cuts with season-best T5 result at Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic
- Captured back-to-back LET tournament titles between late April and early May of 2019 at the Lalla Meryem Cup and Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic
- Played the weekend six times in seven starts on the “Road to the LPGA” this year and stepped into the winner’s circle for first time in her Epson Tour career at the inaugural Zimmer Biomet Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez
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