KELSEY MACDONALD FINISHES THIRD IN FLORIDA OPENER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Kelsey MacDonald shot a closing three-under-par 69 to finish a highly creditable third in the Harder Hall Invitational, the 72-hole opening event of the Orange Blossom Tour, at Sebring, Florida.
The Stirling student and Nairn Dunbar GC member, pictured, posted a three-under aggregate of 285 after earlier rounds of 73, 72 and 71.
Erica Popson, a University of Tennessee student who played for the United States in the Curtis Cup match at Kelsey's home town of Nairn last June, won the prestigious title with a six-under total of 282. She hit the front over an an excellent final round of 68, bettering her earlier efforts of 71, 70 and 73.
Mika Liu, a 13-year-old from Bradenton, Florida, finished runner-up, one shot behind Popson and two shots ahead of MacDonald.
Liu scored 66, 75, 71 and 71 for 283.
Popson found herself three shots ahead with three holes to go but her putter cooled off to bring Liu back into contention. On the 18th hole, Liu sank a 17ft putt and forced Popson to hole her 10ft putt to win or go into a sudden-death play-off.
Although Erica had missed some short ones coming in, she stepped up and sank this putt to win the 58th Harder Hall Women’s Invitational by one stroke.
Thirteen-year-old Kendall Griffin recorded a hole-in-one on 12th hole (191yd).
Eilidh Briggs from Kilmacolm provided Stirling University with two players in the final top 20.
Eilidh, a former Scottish U18 girls champion, finished joint 19th on 300 with scores of 74, 74, 76 and 76.
Wentworth's 16-year-old Annabel Dimmock claimed a share of 28th place on 305 with scores of 71, 79 78 and 77.
Hannah McCook from Nethy Bridge, another member of the Stirling University squad who play each year on the Orange Blossom Tour, was the third best Scot on 312 after finishing with a par-matching 72, her best of the four days. Her earlier rounds were 84, 74 and 82.
This time last year Hannah could only watch the play in Florida as she was recovering from a wrist injury.

+Scroll down for Beth Ann Baldry's GolfWeek report
 
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
282 Erica Popson (Davenport, Florida) 71 70 73 68
283 Mika Liu (Bradenton, Florida) 66 75 71 71
285 Kelsey MacDonald (Stirling University) 73 72 71 69    
286 Ashlan Ramsey (Milledgeville, Georgia) 73 70 72 71
287 Hannah Pietila (Brighton, Michigan) 72 71 70 74
288 JiaXin Yang (HaiKou, China) 73 71 71 73
289 Yueer Cindy Feng (Orlando, Florida) 73 72 71 71
290 Ashleigh Albrecht (Murrieta, California) 73 75 69 73
SELECTED TOTALS
300 Eilidh Briggs (Stirling University) 74 74 76 76 (T19)
305 Annabel Dimmock (Wentworth) 71 79 78 77 (T29)
312 Hannah McCook (Stirling University) 84 74 82 72
315 India Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) 82 81 78 74
327 Jordana Graham (Stirling University) 80 81 85 81
331 Carol S Thompson (Sewickley, Pennsylvania) 82 69 85 85
330 Chloe Rogers (Braintree) 87 79 84 86
TOTALS OVER 63 HOLES
304 Georgina Gilling (Stirling University) 95 86 81 42 (nine holes)
314 Mhairi McKay (Stirling University) 89 88 93 (44 (nine holes)                

 REPORT FROM GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By BETH ANN BALDRY

SEBRING, Florida. – Erica Popson was bigger and stronger and much older than her closest competitors at the Harder Hall Invitational. But if there’s one thing followers of the women’s game know, it’s that none of that really matters.
Mika Liu, the 13-year-old playing in the final group alongside Popson, pictured,  an All-American at Tennessee University, drained a lengthy birdie putt on the 72nd hole at Harder Hall Golf Club with absolutely no idea what it meant.
Popson, 21, needed to make an 8-foot birdie putt to avoid a play-off against an eighth-grader. She knew exactly where she stood against Liu and delivered.
“This is my first amateur title,” said Popson, a senior. “First and last.”
Popson, of nearby Davenport, heads back to college for one last semester. She plans to turn professional after the NCAA Championship. This is only her second appearance at the Harder Hall, a tournament rich in history and prone to bad weather. The temperature hovered around 80 on Sunday.
Popson headed into the final round in Sebring two strokes behind Liu. When Liu bogeyed the 11th hole, Popson birdied to take a one-shot lead. She expanded her lead to two with another birdie, on the par-4 13th. A couple of short misses coming down the stretch could’ve been costly for Popson, but she avenged any errors with a clutch birdie on the final hole to win by one stroke.
A five-time winner at Tennessee and 2012 Curtis Cup participant, Popson has struggled on the greens of late. Less than two weeks ago, she got a new mallet-style putter and put her standard blade in the trunk of the car. She brought it to Sebring each day on her 80-minute drive from Davenport, just in case things went south. Popson's  college events were achieved with the blade but said she made the right choice this week.
“It definitely showed some spark the last hole,” she said.
Popson’s left arm looks like an art project, with can’t-miss black tape down her wrist and over her thumb. She had thumb surgery during last year’s off-season and said she likely will tape it up for the rest of her career.
As for the brace-faced Liu, the soft-spoken middle-schooler who hung tight with the big girls, she’s looking to follow in the footsteps of her older sisters, who attend Harvard and Yale and play college golf. Liu, however, isn’t limiting her sights to the Ivy League.