WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) - Olivia Jordan-Higgins won the season-opening Florida’s Natural Charity Classic by a stroke Sunday for her third Symetra Tour title.
Jordan-Higgins closed with a 2-under 70 to hold off Christine Song (66) and China’s Yu Liu (67). The winner finished at 10-under 207 at the Country Club of Winter Haven and earned $$18,750.
“I don’t think I can really put into words how it feels yet,” Jordan-Higgins said. “This has been 18 months’ work all put together. I couldn’t ask for a better start right now.”
Jordan-Higgins is from Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands between England and France, and played at Charleston Southern. She also won tour events in 2013 and 2014.
Jordan-Higgins took a two-stroke lead into the final day after opening with rounds of 66 and 70. She birdied the par-3 second and made a double bogey on the par-4 seventh, then - after a nearly two-hour rain delay - rallied with birdies on the par-5 11th and par-4 14th and 16th.
“The key today was patience,” Jordan-Higgins said. “I was a little tense on the front and trying too hard to make things happen that just weren’t happening and I did make some a mistake on seven. It just came down to patience and knowing that I had a lot of birdie changes left after my double on seven.”
The top 10 on the final money list will earn 2018 LPGA Tour cards.
“I want it more than anything,” Jordan-Higgins said. “This is what I’ve wanted since I started playing golf. The key for me is to let it happen. I have all of the tools I need and all of the support I need, so it’s just a matter of accepting whatever happens.”
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