Harigae Completes Wire-To-Wire Win At Inaugural Iowa Event

MARION, Iowa, June 7, 2009 – Rookie Duramed FUTURES Tour player Mina Harigae of Monterey, Calif., claimed her first professional title today in wire-to-wire fashion at the $110,000 Ladies Titan Tire Challenge, presented by KCRG and The Gazette. Harigae (69) finished the tournament at 16-under-par (200), 10 strokes ahead of runner-up Whitney Myers (68) of York, Pa., who finished the tournament at 6-under-par (210).

Holding a nine-shot advantage over rookie Garrett Phillips of St. Simons Island, Ga., heading into Sunday's final-round, Harigae showed no signs of letting go of her momentum.

"I talked to some friends last night who told me to just birdie the first hole," said Harigae, who carded a total of six birdies for the day, and 19 for the tournament. "So I did, and I never looked back."

Harigae admitted to running into a few nerves on the back nine, resulting in two bogeys on Nos. 14 and 16, two of only three she allowed for the entire tournament. She quickly recovered with birdies on her final two holes.

“All of a sudden, I saw a bunch of people in the gallery, and I thought ‘I've got to impress them’ and I started to tighten up," said Harigae. "But my caddie told me to just let loose. By the time I got to my last putt on 18, I just thought, if it goes in, it goes in."

With today's win, Harigae set or tied two notable records. She tied the Duramed FUTURES Tour record for largest margin of victory, sharing the honor with Marilyn Lovander, who defeated Jennifer Myers and Renee Heiken at the 1994 Orville Beckford Ford/ Mercury FUTURES Classic. In addition, with her Friday first-round score of 64, she set a ladies course record at the Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion, Iowa, site of this weekend's inaugural tournament.

Harigae also moved to the top of the Duramed FUTURES Tour money list. Jean Reynolds of Newnan, Ga., slips down one spot to No. 2, while Misun Cho of Cheongju, South Korea, moves to third and Christine Song of Fullerton, Calif., and Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, British Columbia, move up into the Top 5, at 4th and 5th, respectively.

"It definitely feels great," said Harigae. "I've got a great momentum going, my confidence is up and I've got a great start for the next run of tournaments."

Myers came into today's final round tied for 6th. She finished the day with two remarkable 40-foot putts on holes 14 and 18.

"I knew it was going in on 18," recalls Myers, who is in her first full season on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. "I've putted great all week. I usually putt not so great, so I'm happy this week. The two-week break between tournaments definitely helped."

Tied for third at 5-under-par 211 are Richdale (67), Song (69) and Liz Janangelo (69) of West Hartford, Conn.

"I played a lot better than yesterday," said Richdale, who is a two-time winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. "I practiced right after yesterday's round ended and I wasn't hitting very well. I don't know, maybe something tweaked in my sleep because I was definitely better today.”

Richdale tied Danah Ford (67) of Indianapolis for the day's low score of 5-under-par.

Finishing the weekend in sixth place at 4-under-par (214) is Phillips (72), Harigae's closest competition for much of the weekend. Phillips started the day with a bogey on No. 1, and followed that with three bogeys on the back nine, on holes 14, 16 and 17. Phillips also carded four birdies.

Joining Ford in a tie for seventh at 3-under-par (213) are Sofie Andersson (68) of Angelholm, Sweden and Kim Welch (72) of Sacramento, Calif. Four players tied for 10th at 2-under-par (214), with three players tied at 14th with 1-under-par (215).

Next stop for the Duramed FUTURES Tour will be the Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship in Decatur, Ill., set for June 11 - 14.

For scores and more information, visit duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Clear skies with a high in the mid-70s. Winds from the East-Southeast at 10 to 15 mph.

Danah Ford Wins iPod Touch For Sunday’s Low Round

Danah Ford of Indianapolis, was the recipient of a new 8 GB Apple iPod Touch to continue Duramed’s season-long promotion of the Sunday Low Round Award with her final-round score of 67 (-6). Ford improved from a tie for 30th to a tie for seventh with her total score of 213 (-3). Her round was highlighted by six birdies and one bogey on the Hunters Ridge Golf Course. Ford shared the low-round score with Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, British Columbia. Richdale was the recipient of the iPod Touch at the Louisiana Pelican Classic in April.

Contact: Joely Pique, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (386) 290-7174 and joely@duramedfuturestour.com.