Rohanna finishes in the money in first tournament
Rachel Rohanna wasn’t able to get her game going in Sunday’s final round of the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, and as a consequence she finished with a 7-over 80 for a four-day total of 14-over 306.
The Waynesburg Central graduate finished 80th in her first tournament as a full-fledged member of the LPGA Tour for earnings of $2,452.
Hyo Joo Kim, of South Korea, shot 18-under 274 for first place and earnings of $210,000.
Rohanna shot an 80 in the first round, and said the round she had Sunday was eerily similar to Thursday’s round in more than just the score.
“(The final round) wasn’t very good. It was just a combo of bad shots and bad luck. It was my ball striking again today,” Rohanna said via Facebook Messenger. “Yes, (the final round was like the first round). I just couldn’t hit greens and like I said, had some pretty bad lies. I’m hoping at the end of the year if I think back to my top 10 worst lies, four of them will be here.”
Rohanna opened on No. 10 and had bogeys on her second, fifth and eighth holes. She had her lone birdie on the round on her ninth hole to go out in 2-over 39.
She made the turn and things didn’t get any better with a double bogey on No. 1, her 10th hole. Rohanna carded another double bogey two holes later and then followed with a bogey. She parred out the rest of her back nine for a 5-over 41.
Rohanna hit 30-of-56 fairways and just 37-of-72 greens in regulation. She needed a tournament-high 31 putts to close out the final round and made only 2-of-11 sand saves. Rohanna averaged 278¾ yards per drive over the four days.
Now, that she has the first tournament under her belt, Rohanna understands what she needs to do to keep making the cut.
“Oh yeah, especially to have not played my best golf and have made the cut. To have shot a nice low round at the start of the season to get things going feels good,” said Rohanna. “I know that once I start practicing and playing some more I should feel more comfortable and shoot scores like I know how to shoot.
“I think the biggest thing I’ll take from this week is the lesson I got Friday morning (from her grandfather, who is her swing coach). I’m going to work on some of the things my grandfather pointed out (like keeping my weight forward) and take those onto Ocala.”
The LPGA Tours moves to Ocala, Florida, this week for the inaugural Coates Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers.