Pressel ties for 26th at Waterloo LPGA event

Morgan Pressel

 

Morgan Pressel shot a seven under par 64 on the final day of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic on July 14, bringing her four-round total to 13 under par.

Yet the score was only good to finish tied in 26th place, as Hee Young Park held off Angela Stanford in a playoff to win the event with a score of 26 under. Park took home $196,000, Pressel  $11,894 (all figures US).

Pressel was solid throughout the event, scoring only six bogies over the course of the week and never finishing above par. On the final day of competition, she started strong, going eagle, birdie, par, birdie on holes five through eight. She added three more birdies on the back nine for a bogie-free round.

Last year, playing at the same Grey Silo Golf Club in Waterloo, Ont., Pressel managed rounds of 70, 71, 72 and 71, good for even par but only 59th overall. This year’s rounds of 68, 70, 69 and 64 showed a marked improvement, and that was reflected in her take home pay. Last year, 59th place earned her only $3,189.

A native of Boca Raton, Fla., Pressel is 30th on the official LPGA money list.

So far this year, she has finished in the top 10 twice and earned $260,625. Her career earnings stand at nearly $5 million. Still only 25, she has won on tour twice. In 2007, at 18, she became the youngest player ever to capture a major title, winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Pressel started playing golf at age eight. When she was only 15, she lost her mother, Kathryn, to breast cancer. Her grandparents, Herb and Evelyn Krickstein, raised her and she credits her grandfather as the individual most influencing her career.

Pressel launched the Morgan Pressel Foundation to raise funds to fight breast cancer, and in 2008, she started the Morgan & Friends Fight Cancer charity tournament, which benefits the Lynn Cancer Institute in Boca Raton.

So far, Pressel has raised more than $2 million to support patient care and research in the fight against breast cancer.

The next print edition of The CJN is Aug. 1.