With a 6-under par 66 in the final round of the Guardian Championship, Sierra Brooks (Orlando, Florida) tied for second at 8-under par for her fourth top-ten finish of the season.
The Road to the LPGA Rookie’s round was cut short yesterday with eight holes to go, but she came today with a mindset to birdie each one and give herself the best chance possible. With that, she was able to claim her career-best finish ahead of the final three weeks of the season.
“That was a fun eagle, it kind of kick started mt whole round yesterday. I hit a great drive, a nice 5-iron in and then drained a 30-footer, it really propelled me to making some more birdies,” said Brooks. “It tough when the leader is already in the clubhouse, and you have a number out there but it gave me something to shoot for. I knew I had eight holes left and eight birdies I needed to make, so my goal out there was to really give myself my best shot at birdies each hole.”
For 36-holes Brooks played alongside fellow Florida native and former University of Florida Gator, Samantha Wagner who finished T8 this week in Prattville, AL.
“Sam and I go way back to junior golf. It’s been awesome to play with her growing up and then now as professionals. She is someone that is a lot of fun to play with and is a great player. We always feed off of each other. She was making a ton of putts and I would think ‘alright it’s my turn now.’ I am excited to see where our future goes,” said Brooks. “Every week it’s just feeling closer and closer to getting that win. I am happy with where my game is, and I have my goals in mind, so I am just going to keep plugging towards them.
Coming in just one stroke behind are Linnea Johansson and Beth Wu tied for fourth.
“It played very solid both rounds. I had a lot of chances and made a few mistakes in the beginning of this round, yesterday. I kept rolling my putts well too, so it feels really nice to claim a good top-10,” said Johansson. “It’s been a very tough year for me bouncing between the LPGA and here. I am just trying to take every opportunity I can to play good golf because that’s all you can do and a good finish this week is great going into the final three events of the year.”