In the first round of the Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship, Samantha Wagner (Windermere, Florida) claimed the lead after carding four birdies and no bogeys for a 69.
“I hadn’t really realized until I had finished that I didn’t have a bogey today. I feel like I missed a lot of opportunities, but I am really happy with how I played,” said Wagner. “I was really calm and patient out there today. My dad and I worked really well together.”
Currently right outside of the money list top-10, Wagner sits at No. 13 with $23,236 heading in week eight and is coming off a top-10 finish at the IOA Golf Classic presented by RP Funding. This is the second week in a row the former University of Florida Gator is competing close to home and she can feel the support from those around her.
“It’s awesome to be at home. A lot of these volunteers I recognize from tournaments from when I was maybe ten or twelve. It’s great to hear them cheering me on and they really know who I am,” said Wagner. “I know a lot of the volunteers pretty personally too so it’s great to have a lot of people around to support me.”
PLAYER NOTES
Samantha Wagner
- Wagner is a native of Windermere, Florida
- Competed for Team USA in the 2012 Junior Ryder Cup
- Member of Team USA for the 2013 Junior Solheim Cup
- Spent two years at the University of Florida and named to 2016 All-SEC Freshman Team
- Qualified for and made her professional debut at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open Championship
- Completed 72 holes at the 2017 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to first earn Epson Tour membership as a 2018 rookie
- Secured a Epson Tour career-best performance of T4 at the 2018 Four Winds Invitational
- Made nine cuts across 21 starts on the Epson Tour in 2019 with season-best result of T12 at the Four Winds Invitational
- Made seven cuts across 10 starts on the Epson Tour in 2020 with season-best result of T3 at the IOA Golf Classic presented by HomeValue.com