LNGA Amateur: Rachel Kuehn makes it back-to-back major wins
Kennedy Pedigo (L), Marissa Wenzler, and Rachel Kuehn (R)
Two straight major tournament wins right before making the trip to the U.S. Women’s Amateur is about the biggest confidence boost imaginable.
Wake Forest star Rachel Kuehn certainly has the most momentum heading into next week’s national championship. After picking up the win at the North & South Women’s Amateur earlier this month, Kuehn backed it up with another win Wednesday at the Ladies National Golf Association (LNGA) Amateur at Tennessee Grasslands Golf and Country Club.
After multiple rain-delays over the course of the week, Kuehn was able to separate herself from the highly touted field. 6-under through 28 holes, she finished the final eight holes of her second round Wednesday morning before getting back on schedule. Kuehn carded two more birdies to close out the second round at 8-under-par.
Playing the final round uninterrupted, Kuehn was able to find a rhythm and stick to it.
Through nine holes, Kuehn traded two bogeys and two birdies to carry her 8-under total into the final stretch. Coming home, she carded birdies on Nos. 15 and 17 to move to 10-under, securing a six-shot victory.
The LNGA handed out three exemptions into next week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, with Kuehn taking one of the exemptions despite already being locked into the field. Kennedy Pedigo (SMU) and Marissa Wenzler (Kentucky) earned the other two exemptions as they tied for second at 4-under. Both Pedigo and Wenzler were exempt into the U.S. Amateur field prior to this week’s event.
Brooke Riley (Northwestern), Carly Burkhardt (Furman) and Kynadie Adams (Tennessee) tied for fourth at 3 under par.
ABOUT THE
LNGA Amateur
The inaugural event, held in 1927 at Blue Hills
Country Club in Kansas City, Mo. set off decades
of successful tournament across the United
States, conducted by an organization then
named the Missouri Valley Women's Golf
Association. A year later, the name became the
Women's Trans-Mississippi Golf Association,
evolving into the Women's Trans National Golf
Association by 1953 to include all states before
changing to the Ladies National
Golf Association in 2019. This
54-hole stroke play event spans the nation and
has been hosted at some of the country finest
courses,
including Persimmon Ridge in Kentucky,
Stonewall Links in Pennsylvania, and Eugene
Country Club in Oregon.
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