July 29, 2006

Romeoville, Ill. – Gamecock golfer Jenna Pearson rebounded from a mediocre first round to win the Illinois Women’s Open Championship with a score of 72-68-68=208. Pearson birdied four of the first five holes to claim the lead and kept a two-shot lead for good after a birdie on the par-5, 512-yard eighth placed her at 7-under. Her 50-foot putt for birdie from the front of the 18^th green sealed the win as second round leader Sara Brown watched from the fairway.

A senior at USC, Pearson slowly climbed her way to the top of the leader board after tying for 14^th at the end of the first round. Pearson was only one of three players to record a subpar round two and was only one of two players to shoot in the 60’s in the final round.

Pearson birdied at the par-4 fifth to grab the lead outright at 8-under, but successive bogeys at Nos. 6 and 7 dropped her back into a tie with Brown at minus-6 after Brown bogeyed the 160-yard, par-3 No. 7. The par-5, 512-yard eighth saw crucial a two-shot swing, with Pearson making birdie to get back to 7-under. Moments later on the same green, Brown made bogey and handed Pearson a two-shot lead she never surrendered.

Playing in 98-degree heat and high humidity, Pearson next ran off nine straight pars while Brown added bogeys at 11 and 14 to fall back to 2-under, five shots back. But refusing to fold, Brown eagled the 434-yard, par-5 15th and followed with a birdie on the 302-yard, par-4 16th and suddenly, she was only two shots behind. Pearson leaked her tee shot on the par-5, 409-yard 18th and had to lay up with her third to the front of the green, 50 feet away from the hole. Brown ripped a tee shot deep into the fairway and was waiting for Pearson to finish so she could go for the putting surface in two. But instead of making a par or worse with her putter, which would have given Brown a chance for a tie with a birdie or eagle, Pearson knocked in her fourth shot from 50 feet to dash Brown’s hopes.

“I’m really proud to win an Illinois tournament, especially one this close to my home,” said Pearson, who plans to test the touring professional ranks after she graduates. “It’s been a while since I won anything, so this feels especially good.

“I didn’t see the leader board until I got on the 14th hole, so I wasn’t aware of what the girls behind me were doing,” she continued. “I was just trying to pace myself in the heat and worry only about what I was doing. There are some good birdie or eagle opportunities at both 15 and 18, so at that point anything could have happened. I gotta say I was pretty shocked to see Sara [Brown]’s lead had shrunk, though. I didn’t really expect it because she’s such a solid player.”

Pearson finished at 8-under 208, with Marisa Milligan, an Auburn player and the 2005 State Amateur champion two shots back at 210 after a final 71. Brown (75) finished third at 211.

The Illinois Women’s Open, the 54-hole state championship of golf, is open to women professionals and amateurs age 17 and over who reside in or are enrolled in a college or university in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Pearson will next put a cap on her summer competition schedule by taking part in the U.S. Women’s Amateur from August 7-13.