For the second time this season, Lucy Li walked away as a champion. Li dominated the notoriously hard Pinehaven Country Club, finishing the weekend 10-under 203.
“I feel tired and hungry, but I’m also very happy,” Li joked. “It’s definitely really exciting to get my second win here.”
Throughout the week, Li had a crowd supporting her. As No. 1 in the Race for the Card, this wasn’t unusual. The community support means a lot to Li; however, certain people have been there through the highs and lows which means the most.
“Having the support of your family, for me was huge,” said Li. “I can say that they never stopped believing in me, even when at some points it feels like you stop believing in yourself.”
The California native carded three birdies on Sunday and went bogey-free on the back nine. To keep herself focused and in the game, Li reminds herself why she loves coming out to a course each week. The method is something she’s implemented into her practice sessions as well.
“It’s a journey,” said Li. “And it’s different for everyone. But it’s important to boil it down to why you love playing this sport and focus more on that. I transformed my practice to focusing more on that enjoyment of the game.”
Before she goes home to celebrate with the rest of her family, Li plans on channeling her inner child and playing some more games.
“Maybe I’ll go to Dave & Busters,” laughed Li. “I haven’t been in so long, so maybe I’ll get to go finally. I have a ton of points I haven’t used, so I hope they don’t expire.”
In solo second place, four strokes behind Li, was Linnea Strom. The Swede shot 1-under par on the day and 6-under on the weekend. She recorded two birdies and a lone eagle on No. 17 – her second of the week – to secure her second-place finish.
“I knew Lucy was a couple shots ahead of me,” said Strom. “In my mind I just wanted to finish solo second, which I was able to do, so I’m happy about that.”
This is the Strom’s third top-10 finish of the 2022 Epson Tour season. She says it’s nice to have a crowd following and cheering her on.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Strom. “A lot of them, [the crowd], were with us from the first hole so it was amazing.”
Taking solo third, at 4-under, is Allie White. The Ohio native earned her highest finish of the 2022 season after missing eight of 10 cuts. Her 3-under par final round consisted of seven birdies.
“I’ve been really struggling this season to get anything going,” said White. “This is really huge for me.”
As she fought for the lead, White’s pairing drew a crowd. She’s formed a great relationship with her host family and had family of her own come support her this week, which she says put her in a good mood.
“I stay with this really wonderful family, and I feel like family with them,” said White. “I had my good friend here with me this week and my family came over too. I had a lot of good vibes being put in my direction, and I think it made a huge difference.”
Rounding out the top 5, tied for fourth, are Hira Naveed and Chanoknan Angurasaranee. The pair shot 3-under and 1-under on the day respectively, to finish 3-under on the tournament, seven strokes behind Li.
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