On the 72nd hole of the biggest tournament on Tour, Alejandra Llaneza (Mexico City, Mexico) hit the greenside bunker shot of her life to leave herself a tap in birdie to win the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic by one stroke on Sunday. Llaneza carded a 1-under 71 to finish at 10-under 278, just edging Casey Grice (College Station, Texas), who closed at 9-under 279 and made par on the final hole.

She becomes the third Mexican to ever win a Epson Tour event and the first since Violeta Retamoza, who won the 2007 Alliance Bank Golf Classic in Syracuse, New York. Lorena Ochoa paved the way for all the current Mexican golfers by winning three times on the Epson Tour in 2002 and 27 times on the LPGA Tour.

Llaneza moves from 26th to first on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

“It feels amazing, I am just really, really excited,” said the overjoyed 26-year-old Llaneza. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I am just really excited to have this opportunity today and come out on top.”

Llaneza made birdie on the 14th hole to tie Grice for the lead at 9-under. The two traded pars for the next three holes and went to the 18th hole all square. The tee boxes were moved up and the hole was reachable in two. Llaneza’s second found the greenside bunker on the right while Grice came up 20 yards short in the fairway. Llaneza played first and hit a dazzling bunker shot to less than six inches. Grice’s chip rolled eight feet past the pin and she missed the birdie putt coming back. Llaneza then calmly putted out to claim the win.

“I thought it was going to be a longer bunker shot, but as I got closer I realized it was a greenside bunker shot and I’ve been working a lot on those,” said Llaneza, who will play the Kingsmill Championship on the LPGA Tour next week. “I took my 60 degree out and honestly I was thinking about making the shot because Casey had chipped in twice during the round so I was feeling out the shot and it almost went in.”

Llaneza was doused with water by her fellow Mexican professionals Lili Alvarez and Margarita Ramos after the short “gimme” putt. Her caddie Ivan picked her up and spun her around just as he did when she holed out from the fairway for eagle on the 16th in round three.

“It was crazy, I didn’t see this tournament going down to the last hole and the last putt,” said Llaneza. “It was really special, I told myself I can’t believe I have a gimme to win my first Epson Tour event. This is a dream come true.”

Llaneza views this win as a springboard for sustained success on the LPGA.

“Deep inside I wanted to prove to myself that I could win out here (Epson Tour),” said Llaneza. “Of course I want to win on the LPGA Tour, but it was very important to see that I could do it at a big tournament like this. This is a great confidence booster.”

Following her win, the words “Viva Mexico” and “Si Se Puede” were uttered by Llaneza and her contingent of friends and supporters.

“I have a lot of support back there (Mexico), the golf community, my family, sponsors and IGPM,” said Llaneza. “They are a non-profit that just has not given up on us. They saw what Violeta Retamoza was going through and they realized there wasn’t enough support. This is really special to share with them.”

In the end, Llaneza knows that she wouldn’t have this opportunity without Ochoa.

“She is my role model and she has meant so much to Mexico,” explained Llaneza. “I email with her back and forth whenever I am in a tough situation and she just encourages me. Seeing how much she won and all the courage she had playing is very inspiring.”

With her second place finish, Grice moved from 46th to seventh on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Jimin Kang finished third at 7-under 281 and moved to tenth on the money list while rookie Ani Gulugian finished fourth at 6-under 282 and moved to 19th.

On Other Tour: Alejandra Llaneza wins in the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women's Health Classic

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