Manchester rookie's great round on US Futures Tour

Rachel Connor goes for it ... and shoots 61 (-9)

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE DURAMED FUTURES TOUR
DECATUR, Illinois: One day after a flash flood soaked Hickory Point Golf Club, a storm of a different sort tore through the course for a 9-under-par opening round of 61 at the $125,000 Tate and Lyle Players Championship.
That storm was rookie Rachel Connor, who recorded nine-hole scores of 29-32 to tie the tournament’s nine-hole record of 29, set by former LPGA superstar Lorena Ochoa (in 2002) and retired LPGA and Duramed FUTURES Tour veteran Marilyn Lovander (in 1990). The nine-hole records all were recorded when the course was played as a par 70, due to flooding.
Connor’s 18-hole total also shattered the previous record of 7-under 65, shared by four players, including current LPGA Tour members Lindsey Wright (2004) and Jean Reynolds (2009).
“I really wanted to break 60,” said Connor, 19, better known as “Chill” to her friends and family. “If my family is still awake [back home in England], they’re going to think the Tour’s real-time scoring is wrong when they look at my score.”
But Connor’s score was anything but wrong. The lively Manchester native posted 10 birdies, one bogey, hit 15 greens and needed only 24 putts for her career-low round today. Her previous low round was 67, which left the David Leadbetter Academy student nearly giddy with excitement.
“I’ve been having a tough time with my game, missing the cut in the last two tournaments, so my coach told me to go for everything,” she said. “That’s what I did today. I wanted to see what I could do if I went for every pin.”
Firing at flagsticks was a lot easier for Connor today, who was playing in the first group of the afternoon round. That’s because the Decatur area received 1.5 inches of rain on Tuesday, causing the creek that bisects the Hickory Point course to spill over and flood after areas upstream received up to five inches of rain.
The swollen creek morphed into a lake, making nearly half of the course unplayable in Wednesday’s pro-am. But even though the flood waters receded by Thursday’s opening round, soggy fairways and leftover mud forced tournament officials to adjust the par-72 course to a par 70, turning the par-five sixth hole into a par three.
Two other rookie pros, Chelsea Curtis of Seabury, Mass., and Jenny Shin of Torrance, Calif., both climbed the leaderboard today with matching rounds of 5-under 65 to move into a share of second, four shots back.
Esther Choe of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Elisa Serramia of Barcelona, Spain jockeyed into a tie for fourth at 4-under 66.
Curtis, a recent graduate of Georgetown University, hit 17 greens in regulation for her career-low score. Both Curtis and Shin each carded five birdies in their respective bogey-free rounds.
“I hit the ball close to the flags and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Curtis, who played the front nine at four under and with one birdie and all pars on the back. “Some of these holes were under water yesterday and now it’s mostly gone. The course dried out really well after all of that rain.”
Posting her best round as a pro, Shin, 17, hit 16 greens in regulation and said she needed the early boost she received when she rolled in a 40-foot birdie and a 10-foot birdie on holes 10 and 11 – her first two holes of the round.
“That got me going and made me believe my putting was working today,” said Shin, the 2006 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship winner over Tour alumna Vicky Hurst. “I never lost confidence in this round. Let’s just say that I’m not afraid any more.”
A total of 38 players posted rounds in the 60s, with 60 players carding rounds of even-par 70 or better on the 6,219-yard water-adjusted course.
Weather: Mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid-80s, with a slight breeze.

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