AUGUSTA, Ga. — Shortly after LSU junior Latanna Stone walked off the 18th inexperienced within the remaining spherical of the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Newbie on Saturday, Annika Sorenstam, a 10-time main championship winner, was ready to hug her.
So was two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership member.
Anybody who was in arm’s size of Stone in all probability wished to console her after she squandered a 2-shot lead within the remaining two holes Saturday, which allowed 16-year-old Anna Davis of Spring Valley, California, to win the third ANWA. Stone and LSU teammate Ingrid Lindblad completed in a tie for second place.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” Stone stated. “I kind of knew where I stood on 17, and I was just thinking, par out. I just didn’t have the right club and kind of left myself with a difficult up-and-down [on 17]. I was trying to be aggressive and just kind of lost it. I thought I could get it back on 18, but I had a lot going on in my head with where I was at.”
A birdie on the par-3 sixteenth gave Stone the 2-shot lead over Davis. Stone hit the center of the green along with her tee shot on the par-4 seventeenth. Her ball was about 135 yards from the opening, on an uphill lie. She was between golf equipment and opted for a pitching wedge over a 9-iron. Her second shot got here up in need of the entrance bunker, leaving her a tough pitch onto the inexperienced.
“I just knew I didn’t want to land in the bunker and [had to] hit it over,” Stone stated.
Stone, from Riverview, Florida, chipped her ball about 40 toes previous the opening. She was additionally aggressive along with her first putt, knocking it previous the opening. Then she missed a 6-footer for bogey. Her double-bogey 6 dropped her right into a tie for the lead with Davis at 1 underneath.
LSU coach Garrett Runion stated chipping is not the strongest a part of Stone’s sport. However her shot from beneath the bunker on the seventeenth could be tough for any participant at Augusta Nationwide — even the world’s greatest enjoying in subsequent week’s Masters.
“It’s got to be the largest crowd she’s ever played in front of and with everything on the line, I don’t want to speak for her, but I think there’s probably a lot of nerves going on,” Runion stated.
It was solely the second time Stone had ever performed the course. She had a rushed apply spherical at Augusta Nationwide on Friday, after unhealthy climate on Thursday pushed the second spherical at close by Champions Retreat Golf Membership into the subsequent day. After the second spherical was accomplished, the sphere made its approach over to Augusta Nationwide for a same-day apply spherical.
Nonetheless, even after Stone’s first massive mistake of the spherical, all wasn’t misplaced heading into the par-4 18th. She may nonetheless win the match with a birdie. A par would put her right into a playoff with Davis, who was already within the clubhouse with the one under-par rating among the many 30 gamers within the finals.
Stone pushed her tee shot into the timber down the precise facet of the 18th fairway. She punched out and her ball ended up in need of the inexperienced. The chip-up settled about 12 toes from the opening. Needing a putt to drive a playoff, she missed left and made bogey.
“I wasn’t really nervous today,” Stone stated. “I kind of felt comfortable out there. The first tee shot, I was a little nervous. On 18, I was feeling it a bit because I made a dumb mistake on 17. Other than that, I was really comfortable out there. I was confident, and I thought I played pretty well.”
Stone acquired a loud ovation as she walked off the 18th inexperienced.
“I’m really overwhelmed,” she stated. “I wasn’t expecting that. That kind of really brought me to tears. I’ve never experienced quite a large crowd like that and have them support me. I’m going to cherish that forever. I’m going to remember walking down there and hearing my name and ‘Go Tigers!’ All of their support made me feel a lot better.”
Lindblad, from Sweden, watched her teammate’s late collapse on TV within the scoring room.
“It was harder to watch than to play,” Lindblad stated. “I was so excited for her. You never know what’s going to happen those last two holes.”
Nonetheless, it was an exciting week for Stone, who gained the Girls’s Orlando Worldwide in January. She has three top-10 finishes in eight begins for LSU this season.
“She’ll be a little bit upset at first, but then she’ll get over it and she’ll realize that it’s a learning experience for her,” her father, Michael Stone, stated. “She’s going to grow and get stronger from it and build off of this. It’s golf. There’s only one winner and there’s always a bunch of losers. We’re OK with that.”
Runion stated he hopes the expertise will encourage Stone much more because the Tigers head into their postseason in a few weeks.
“I think she’ll take a lot of positives,” Runion stated. “Deep down, it’s going to sting, but I think overall she’ll leave with the feeling that she had an unbelievable time and she got to play Augusta National. She played great. She was on TV. She had a lot of people watching. Life’s good. There could be worse things.”
As Stone talked along with her mother and father and her caddie after the spherical, she started to wipe away tears. A person in a inexperienced jacket handed her a tissue.
“[I’ll] just put my arms around her, tell her I love her and that I’m proud of her,” Michael Stone stated. “I don’t care if she came in first or 10th. I’m just glad she got the opportunity to play and experience the crowds and all of that stuff. It’s a good thing. We’re OK. We’ll come back next year — stronger.”
