Rookie Courtney Massey finishes strong at Florida
Rookie Courtney Massey of Australia was besieged by mixed emotions on the last day of Daytona Beach Invitational 2012 as the star performer lost her early lead to finish tied for the 11th
position on the leaderboard on Sunday.
Massey, who got off to a dazzling start in the opening round of Daytona Beach Invitational 2012 at Florida, was more than happy after grabbing a lead as she posted a gigantic 66 on Friday.
However, the rookie star could not stand her ground when other rivals ramped up pressure by posting big scores in the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Massey recorded a 71 and 73 in the second and third round respectively, putting a dent in her early position she had gained after a nerve-racking confrontation with big names like American
Esther Choe and Kristie Smith of Australia who won the 2010 edition of the tournament.
Sharing her thoughts at the end of the first round that saw her display her best performance, Massey said that she was very confident to make a fine start as she knew the fairways were good
enough to help her make calculated strokes.
“Today I hit almost every fairway and I hit 16 greens so that comes in handy around this golf course because the greens are either really big or really small,” the ambitious golfer said. “There
were some tough pins today so on most of them I was just trying to hit the green and two putt but I managed to make a few putts coming in so that came in handy”.
The last round was the scene of a tough battle as the young star could not do what she had vowed to after the first round. She made a birdie on the second hole to let her fans know that she
was still in contention, but marred her scorecard on the back nine by carding four straight bogeys.
Observers said that Massey could not have done any better as she had to face rivals far stronger than her — both in experience and skills.
American Daniela Iacobelli won the tournament after she posted an overall 205, inflicting a two-stroke defeat on her nearest rival Esther Choe of the United States.
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