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Leah Wigger Takes 2-Stroke Lead Into Final Round
 HARRIS----Leah Wigger shot a 6-under 66 in the second round of the Island Resort Championship on Saturday to take a two-shot lead over Aimee Neff. Wigger, Sara Brown and Victoria Park all shot 6-under for the day and broke the 18-hole tournament scoring record. Wigger had a bogey-free round and carded three birdies on both the front and back nine. Neff followed up her first round 70 with a 71 on Saturday, and was 3-under through the first six holes. A group of four players sit three shots off the lead at 2-under which includes Mitsuki Katahira, Nicole Jeray, Allison Hanna and Rachel Connor. It was a record day on the Sweetgrass Course, as the girls played under warm, sunny conditions. Wigger, Brown and Park broke the 18-hole scoring record when the trio carded 6-under par 66s. All three players had mediocre opening rounds, Wigger with a 1-over 73, Brown with a 5-over 77 and Park a 6-over 78, but they found ways to bounce back and put themselves in contention on Sunday. Brown opened her day with a birdie on No. 1 and had another on the front nine on No. 4. She lit it up after she made the turn and carded five out of her seven birdies on the back nine, including three consecutive on Nos. 9-11. “When we made the turn Derek (my caddie) was like ‘could you have had a 29 on the front nine? Yes, you could have.’ So I did really well on the front nine just didn’t sink all my putts. I think I had six inside eight feet and only made two of them.” Park matched Brown’s seven birdies, carding three on the back nine where she started on No. 10 and four on her final nine holes on the front nine. Brown and Park made monster jumps on the leader board, Brown from T75 to T7 and Park from T88 to T15. They’ll be looking to replicate their impressive days in tomorrow’s final round. “I just hope I hit it like I did today,” said Brown. “Another 66 would be nice but I’m just going to go out there and have a good time. There are a lot of fans and spectators and they’re awesome out here and just give them a show hopefully.” Pictured above: Kristie Smith gets her ball ready. (Symetra Tour photo) TWO-DOLLAR BILL PROMOTION----Tournament organizers of the Island Resort Championship set up a program for tournament week where each player who cards an eagle will receive $100, in $2 bills, and will get to choose from a selection of local charities to donate a matching $100. Friday’s opening round saw no eagles on the scoreboard but eight players were given their stack of bills for going low in the second round. Each player in the awarded group carded their eagles on the par 5 No. 11 Players who received their $100 cash prizes and their charity donations are: Paz Echeverria (Lakestate Industries), Dawn Shockley (Delta County Youth Assistance), Daniela Iacobelli (The First Tee), Michelle Shin (Salvation Army), Tzu-Chi Lin (American Red Cross), Alexandra Braga (Delta County Youth Assistance), Sara Maude Juneau (American Red Cross) and Lisa Meldrum. CLICK HERE to read more stories from the tournament, courtesy of the Symetra Tour Publicity Staff. |
