Andrea Lee, the former amateur world No. 1, won his first LPGA title on Sunday after his victory at the Portland Classic. None of the French women entered made the cut in this event.

AmazingCre Portland Classic: Andrea Lee wins her first victory

Andrea Lee – ©LPGA via Twitter

The tournament was open to all at the start of the final round of the AmazingCre Portland Classic and it was that way throughout the day at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. With many leader changes and a myriad of elite players making their way to the top of the leaderboard, it's hard to see which player would be the winner before the final putts. That champion is Andrea Lee, who finished at -19 and earned the first victory of her career on the LPGA Tour. “All that hard work paid off. It has been my dream to win on the LPGA Tour, and to have accomplished that today is just surreal enough.”, said the Rolex First-Time Winner. “Some of the former champions (of the Portland Classic) are legends of golf… I am extremely honored to join this list of names. »

Andrea Lee started the day at -13 and in the leading group alongside her colleague Lilia Vu, from the Epson circuit, and Ayaka Furue, first victory in 2022. She had a difficult start with two bogeys on her first three holes, but reversed the situation soon after with birdies on holes five, six and seven. The American continued her birdie spree with five more on the last nine holes and took advantage of Columbia's four par-5s Edgewater all the way, making birdies on every one of them.

Lee had a two-stroke lead at -19 heading into the final two holes, but struggled on the par-17 4th after her ball landed in a fairway divot.

“It was obviously a bad move, but there was nothing to do. I was a bit between two clubs. I was wondering if I should play a 7 iron or a 6 iron. I went for the 6 iron and played less hard,” explains Andrea Lee. “I hit him pretty cleanly. I think if I had aimed a little closer she would have hit the green, but she went into the bunker. 

Andrea Lee's spectacular sand save kept her two shots ahead going into the final hole. Ecuadorian Daniela Darquea, who was playing in the previous group, put the pressure on Lee with a birdie at 18 (-18). But Lee said she stayed calm, not focusing on the par-ending scoreboard that made her an LPGA Tour champion.

Looking at Lee's final stats, it's easy to see how she became a champion. The Stanford alumnus led the pack in birdies and hit the most fairways and greens in regulation. Her game is better than it's ever been, she says, but it's been a long road to get there.

“My junior career and my amateur career have always been smooth sailing, I would say. I expected a lot of myself coming into the LPGA and turning professional. I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed from the start.”said Andrea Lee, who is tied for the title of winningest female golfer in Stanford history. “That was not the case at all. 2020 was a decent year, but then 2021 was a struggle… I just learned from all of those experiences last year, and really grew as a golfer and really proud of how I managed to use all these experiences to get this victory today. »

Darquea's second-place finish is his best result on the LPGA Tour. His previous record was a tie for fifth at the 2018 Dana Open presented by Marathon. The 27-year-old lost her full LPGA Tour status heading into 2022, but she's used her Epson Tour membership to up her game and boost her confidence in the five LPGA events she's played this season. season. In fact, Darquea wondered if she was even going to play in Portland this week or play on the Epson Tour. She says she made the right choice.

"It was hard at the start of the year, losing the card, going back to Epson", said Darquea, who made seven birdies and a bogey on Sunday to earn his second place finish. “I know I have the game to be here. I just need to keep the mental game as it is. »

Five players tied for third place, including third-round co-leaders Furue and Vu, 2019 Portland Classic champion Hannah Green, German golfer Esther Henseleit and Korea's Narin An. An's bogey-free 64 helped her move up in the classification of T14 to T3. Her -8 round was only topped by Bianca Pagdanganan, whose 63-9 under par is the best 18-hole score of the week at Columbia Edgewater. On her LPGA Tour debut, Maja Stark secured eighth place thanks to a final 6-under par that put her in the lead after five straight birdies on holes 4-8.

To view the full leaderboard: click here

To read our last article on the same subject :

Portland Classic: 4th place for Perrine Delacour