The inaugural Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic now has a low 54-hole record that’ll be tough to beat. Celine Borge fired an impressive 9-under par 63 in the final round to go from T7 to champion. The Norwegian finished the tournament at 15-under par.
“It feels very nice,” said Borge. “I just tried to stay focused on every shot and do my best on every shot. I didn’t look at the leaderboard.”
Borge went bogey-free on Sunday, carding seven birdies and a lone eagle. The Norwegian arrived in Tuscaloosa as No. 16 in the Ascensus Race for the Card standings and now heads to Daytona Beach for the Epson Tour Championship as No. 5.
“I tried not to focus on that,” said Borge. “If I play good enough, I will get my LPGA Tour card when I’m good enough.”
One stroke behind Borge in solo second place was Hyo Joon Jang. Jang recorded a 5-under final round and a tournament total of 14-under par. The Korean carded seven birdies on the day and is proud of her top finish.
“There were a lot of emotions today,” said Jang. “A little nervous but also excited and confident, for sure. I started with a bogey again, same as yesterday, so I wasn’t expecting anything. I was trying to focus on every shot and accept whatever result came out of it.”
Finishing in solo third, at 13-under, was Linnea Ström. The Swede carded six birdies on the day, five of which were on the front nine. Ström, who has already clinched 2023 membership on the LPGA Tour, is using her final events on the Epson Tour to fine tune parts of her game. She’s happy with the progress she’s made this week and is even happier for Borge.
“I’m a little bit disappointed of my back nine today,” said Ström. “But overall, it was a very good week. I’m happy and super happy for Celine.”
Rounding out the top five were Bailey Tardy and Kiira Riihijarvi. Tardy finished in fourth place at 12-under, while Riihijarvi took fifth at 11-under after signing for a 6-under round. A total of 51 players shot even-par or better.
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