University of North Carolina Athletics
Meaghan Francella Earns LPGA Tour Card
September 11, 2006 | Women's Golf
Sept. 11, 2006
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Former University of North Carolina golfer Meaghan Francella concluded play on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in dramatic fashion by tying for third place at five-under-par 213 at the ILOVENY Championship. Francella thus qualified for an exempt spot on the LPGA Tour for 2007 after finishing in the fifth spot on the Duramed FUTURES Tour money list.
"I knew if I posted a good round today, it would be really hard for anyone to catch me," said Francella. "But I also knew that Allison Fouch, Ashley Prange, Hye Jung Choi and Angela Park are all great players and that any of them could shoot a low number and take the fifth spot."
Prange, also a former Tar Heel golfer (2001-04) and teammate of Francella's, tied for 10th place at the ILOVENY Championship with a one-under 212 total to just miss earning exempt LPGA status for next year. That put her in a disappointing seventh place on the season money list after an impressive season in which she picked up two wins, the Greater Tampa Duramed FUTURES Classic and the Horseshoe Casino FUTURES Golf Classic, and a win on The Golf Channel's "Big Break V".
"I definitely knew it was going to come down to this on the last day," said Prange. "It was a real dog fight out there, but there's no other way around it. It was a tough day."
Francella, who played on the 2003-04 Carolina golf teams, won the first tournament of this year's FUTURES Tour, the Lakeland Duramed FUTURES Classic. She was an All-America as a Tar Heel in 2004 after winning the 2004 NCAA East Regional. She also captured the ACC championship in 2003 and was the runner-up in 2004.
The top five spots on the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour Money List are as follows: 1. Song-Hee Kim, 18 events, 5 wins, $76,287; 2. Charlotte Mayorkas, 16 events, 2 wins, $66,351; 3. In-Bee Park, 17 events, no wins, $49,079; 4. Kristy McPherson, 17 events, 2 wins, $40,558; 5. Meaghan Francella, 18 events, 1 win, $39,416.
While Francella now breathes a sigh of relief, Prange turns her focus to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, which will be contested over 90 holes at LPGA International in Daytona, Fla., Nov. 7-10. Prange was the first of 10 players who earned automatic entry into the LPGA Final Q-School event.
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Players Mentioned
