DANIELA IACOBELLI WINS DAYTONA BEACH INVITATIONAL

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE SYMETRA TOUR

It was just another day for Daniela Iacobelli at the start of Sunday’s final-round but it proved to be special as she fired a 4-under par 68 to win the Daytona Beach Invitational Presented by Embry-Riddle.

“I looked at my him (her caddy) when we were walking down number one and I was like it’s just another day back at home except you’re carrying the bag,” said Iacobelli. 

Iacobelli entered Sunday’s final round tied atop the leaderboard with Nicole Smith and Courtney Massey at 7-under par. Iacobelli didn’t waste any time as she quickly moved to 1-under par for the day after a birdie at the par-4 first. She then immediately gave the stroke back after a bogey at the par-4 second.

Despite Esther Choe nipping on her heels, Iacobelli stayed focused and utilized her distance to birdie the par-5 fifth.

From that point on, Iacobelli was in total control of her own destiny. The Viera, Fla. native recorded back-to-back birdies on the par-4 12^th and par-5 13^th to take a one-stroke lead after Choe bogeyed the par-3 14^th.

Stephanie Connelly, determined not to go out without a fight, birdied the par-4 16^th to move to 3-under par for the day and join Choe one-stroke behind Iacobelli. Meanwhile behind Connelly, Iacobelli was in the dark about where she stood on the leadboard.

“We made the turn 1-under and we didn’t see a scoreboard until 15, 16, 14, somewhere in there and I never looked at it,” said Iacobelli. “I told him (her caddy) coming up 16 you can look at, I was like I’m not looking at it.”

Filled with nerves, Iacobelli didn’t record another birdie until the par-5 18^th where she reached the green in two using a 6-iron from 158 yards.

“I have never shook over anything like that and it was uncontrollable shake,” Iacobelli said of her tap-in birdie putt on the 18^th. “I was just trying to go straight back and straight through.”

Tag Team…After the last putt dropped on Sunday to give Daniela Iacobelli her first-career victory, the first set of arms to congratulate her were of her caddie and one of her closest friends, Tyler Del Buono. Decked out in matching purple paisley shorts on Sunday, it was evident that the victory was a team effort. The duo has been together since the Tour’s stop in Mexico but Iacobelli said it wasn’t a perfect match at first sight.

“He actually took my job (at Bay Tree) when I first went two or three years ago,” said Iacobelli. “I go out and I’m like ‘who is this guy?’ But we ended up being best friends. So I asked him if he’d go down to Mexico and caddie and he was like ‘duh.’ So we went down to Mexico and we said let’s do this full time.”

After an up and down year with plenty of highlights but missed cuts mixed in, Iacobelli was quick to point the finger Del Buono’s way when asked how she made it through the season-long haul of 16 events.

“He’s my BFF,” said Iacobelli. “He’s my rock.”