Daniela Iacobelli steals the show at Daytona Beach Invitational
American Daniela Iacobelli shot a 68 in the third round of the Daytona Beach Invitational 2012 to win her first Symetra Tour title.
The Daytona Beach Invitational, which is co-sanctioned by Symetra Tour, was held at Florida, with the participation of past winners and several new faces.
Iacobelli got off to a sensible start at the three-round tournament and kept the pressure high on her nearest rivals right from the start.
The roster featured plenty of strong contenders but most of the past star performers found it hard to prove their mettle this time — and they could not hold off players like Iacobelli.
The American golfer kicked off the last round with confidence as she made the most of favourable weather and course conditions, hitting right where she planned to. A 68 on Sunday was enough to sale her through the tough line-up to the top of the leaderboard.
She parred the first hole and launched her first birdie on the par-4 second. Despite making a firm start, the Symetra Tour star made mistakes on some holes as her putting lacked precision.
The difficult par-3 third hole troubled Iacobelli as she missed a putt on the greens, carding her first bogey of the tournament.
On the back nine, the star golfer picked up pace and added much-needed points to her scorecard. She fired three birdies and no bogey, cementing her position on the leaderboard.
Observers said that it was not Iacobelli who was expected to steal the show at Daytona Beach at first, but her coming into contention from the second round reflected she was eager to record a victory and pave the way for her Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) career.
“I have never shook over anything like that and it was uncontrollable shake,” she said of her birdie-putt on the last hole. “I was just trying to go straight back and straight through”.
Iacobelli went on to say that her caddie, Tyler Del Buono, helped her every step of the way. “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”.
Other contenders who did well in the prestigious tournament included Esther Choe of the United States. Choe displayed a balanced game throughout the three rounds and posted a 207 to take the second position on the leaderboard.
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