Briana Chacon’s determination to go away faculty is paying off to this point.
Chacon determined to forego her remaining semester on the College of Oregon and compete as knowledgeable at LPGA Q-Collection final December. She earned Epson Tour standing for this 12 months through the qualifying match, and simply three tournaments into the event tour’s season, Chacon picked up her first professional victory on Saturday on the Atlantic Seaside Charity Basic.
The 22-year-old Chacon, who hails from Whittier, California, shot 7 underneath, capped by a birdie-par-birdie end, and captured the 54-hole occasion by a shot over Jessica Porvasnik and Kim Kaufman. She had missed every of her first two cuts, however Chacon now sits in a tie for second on the tour’s factors record. The highest 10 gamers at season’s finish earn LPGA playing cards.
“Phrases can not actually describe what I’m feeling,” Chacon mentioned. “I’m nonetheless shocked and simply actually shocked. However most of all, I’m tremendous grateful and tremendous grateful to be right here.”
Chacon ranks second all-time at Oregon in scoring common (73.04) and is one in every of simply three Geese to earn a number of WGCA All-America honors.
LPGA guidelines state that gamers wishing to compete in Q-Collection be skilled, although gamers who qualify can stay novice and defer the Epson Tour standing they obtain by advancing by way of Stage II. Chacon was one in every of three school gamers who participated in Q-Collection together with Clemson’s Savannah Grewal and Tulsa’s Lilly Thomas. 5 school gamers, together with LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, deferred their standing.