AMIERICAN GIRL (16) WINS NICK FALDO GRAND FINAL

NEWS RELEASE

Sixteen-year-old Megan Khang (pictured above with Sir Nick Faldo) from Rockland, Massachusetts posted a final round 69 to win the seventeenth Faldo Series Grand Final by two shots at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, USA. 

It was triple success for the U.S. as Zachary Bauchou and Brad Dalke won the Boys’ Under-18 and 16 titles respectively.
England's Paul Kinnear won the Boys' Under-21 title with the second lowest aggregate overall.
Said Megan Khang: 

“I did not know I was the first girl winner until I reached the green. I knew about Yani Tseng but thought she must have won the whole thing, it hasn’t really sunk in yet, to be one of only three American girls competing against all these great players from around the world, it is cool.”

“This is a truly historic moment as we crown our first ever female champion and our first ever American winner,” commented Sir Nick Faldo.  “Megan joins a roster of international champions that includes multiple Major winners Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng.”

“It is thanks to the support of Jim Justice and The Greenbrier that we were able to bring the Faldo Series to America for the first time and our Major partners; The R and A; The European Tour; ISPS Handa and the PGA Tour. Without them we could not have brought this level of opportunity to 99 competitors from 19 different nations this week and to more than 7,000 young people in 30 countries worldwide each year.

Overnight leader Paul Kinnear of England, 19, who started one ahead of Khang, carded a 72 to finish in outright second and win the Boys’ Under-21 Championship. 20-year-old Michaela Gasplmayr (Girls Under-21) held off a late challenge from former winner Sophie Keech and England’s Annabel Dimmock to become the first Austrian to win a Faldo Series title. 

Faldo Series Champions Khang and Kinnear will be offered a start in a professional Tour event.  They will also be invited by Faldo to the eighth Asia Grand Final at Mission Hills Golf Club in China next March, as will Bauchou, Dalke and Gasplmayr.

Off the course players aged 12 to 22 received expert advice from Faldo’s personal coach Keith Wood, experts from TrackMan and sports psychologist Dr Gio Valiante at the new Faldo Golf Centre.  Faldo was on hand all week to spend time with the competitors, including several clinics and Q&A sessions. On Wednesday the former world number one teamed up with PGA of America Board Member Suzy Whaley for a Q&A session with players and a grass-roots clinic with local school children.

In September 2014, Faldo will begin taking students at a full-time residential academy for education and golf development in America.  The first ever Faldo Series Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona marks another significant step in the programme’s history.

Leading final scores:  

Boys’ Under-21: 

212 Paul Kinnear (ENG) 72 69 73

220 Martin Hromadka (CZE) 76 71 73

221 Nicholas Inderthal (GER) 7772 72
Also:
231 Andrew Davidson (Scotland) 78 79 74 (10th)
 

Boys’ Under-18

214 Zachary Bauchou (USA) 72 74 68, Simon Zach (CZE) 71 70 73

215 Vitek Novak (CZE) 70 76 69.  
Also:
239 Michael Brodie (Scotland) 81 79 79 (T18).

Boys’ Under-16 

217 Brad Dalke (USA) 71 74 72

223 Jakub Hrinda (SK) 75 74 74

224 Marco Penge (ENG) 77 74 73
Also:
230 Alex Chalk (Scotland) 75 84 80 (14th). 

Girls’ Under-21

226 Michaela Gasplmayr (Austria) 76 74 76

228 Annabel Dimmock (ENG) 76 78 74, Sophie Keech (ENG) 75 78 75.
Also:
248 Heather Munro (Scotland) 90 82 76 (T15). 

Girls’ Under-16

210 Megan Khang (USA) 70 71 69

223 Olivia Mehaffey (NIreland) 74 78 71, Kristen Gillman (USA) 74 76 73.
Also:
240 Shannon McWilliam (Scotland) 83 81 76 (7th)
 

For final scores and results from the 17^th Faldo Series Grand Final visit www.nickfaldo.com
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