DECATUR, Ill. — A total of 144 players will take on the challenge that Hickory Point Golf Club presents starting Friday with the first round of the 35th annual Forsyth Classic presented by Decatur Park District.
Three featured groups highlight the competition for the 11th event of the 2019 Epson Tour season.
Leona Maguire, Perrine Delacour, Jillian Hollis (No. 1 tee, 1:04 p.m.)
The current No. 1 in the Volvik Race for the Card is Leona Maguire (County Cavan, Ireland) and she also leads this pack, making her first Epson Tour start since the Zimmer Biomet Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez. Over the last two weeks, Maguire competed in the U.S. Women’s Open going 75-76 and spent time in her native country. She comes to Macon County in search of a third win on the season.
Coming off her first victory as a pro at the Four Winds Invitational, Perrine Delacour (Paris, France) adds to the firepower in the group. She has four straight top-five finishes and hopes to keep the streak alive in Central Illinois. The incredible run has launched her 27 spots in the Volvik Race for the Card all the way to No. 2. A past Epson Tour graduate in 2013, Delacour has 68 career starts on the LPGA Tour.
Jillian Hollis (Rocky River, Ohio) returns to the site where she made her professional Epson Tour debut and forced a sudden-death playoff one year ago. The three-time All-American for the University of Georgia and first-time Epson Tour champion earlier this season at the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa is No. 5 in the Volvik Race for the Card with four top-10s in eight starts.
Madison Pressel, Jenny Coleman, Maddie Szeryk (No. 1 tee, 1:26 p.m.)
A past champion of the Forsyth Classic in 2014, Madison Pressel (Boca Raton, Florida) looks to become the second two-time winner in tournament history joining Nicole Jeray (1998, 2000). Through 10 starts this year, the University of Texas alumna has not missed a cut including five top-25 results and a season-best tied for second at the IOA Invitational. In total, Pressel has nine top-10s in her Epson Tour career.
Meanwhile, Jenny Coleman (Rolling Hills Estates, California) is on a solid run as of late with back-to-back tied for third finishes at the Valley Forge Invitational and Four Winds Invitational, as well as five straight cuts made. Her best result in the Forsyth Classic of tied for 11th came in 2016. In addition, the University of Colorado graduate owns 10 career top-10s and finished 24 tournaments with a score under par.
Maddie Szeryk (London, Ontario, Canada) arrives in Decatur fresh off ending tied for fifth in northern Indiana, her second consecutive top-five. After missing the cut in four of her first seven starts this year, the Texas A&M University alumna has found a groove and climbed to No. 6 in the Volvik Race for the Card. The four-time All-SEC First Team performer was also a four-time collegiate winner for the Aggies.
Min Lee, Vicky Hurst, Chorphaka Jaengkit (No. 1 tee, 8:58 a.m.)
Ten days ago, Min Lee (Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei) stepped into the winner’s circle at the Valley Forge Invitational for her second career Epson Tour win. She is now preparing for her second start in The Forsyth Classic presented by Decatur Park District following a tied for 71st finish at the Shoprite LPGA Classic presented by Acer. The last time she competed in Decatur was 2014 with a tied for 21st result.
Back in 2008, Vicky Hurst (Melbourne, Florida) captured The Forsyth Classic title. It is one of eight total victories for her Epson Tour career and part of 17 top-10 finishes on the “Road to the LPGA.” So far in 2019, Hurst has played the weekend eight times across nine starts with a top showing of tied for sixth at the Epson Classic. This week marks her first time back in Decatur, Ill. since the win 11 years ago.
Rounding out the final featured group is Chorphaka Jaengkit (Bangkok, Thailand), a past champion of this event in 2017. She defended her crown with a tied for 36th result last year. A 2017 rookie on the Epson Tour, she has one additional top-10 finish in her career coming at the Valley Forge Invitational earlier this month. That performance is also part of three straight cuts made in her third season on Tour.
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