Completed Event: Women's Golf versus NCAA Championship on May 22, 2026 , , 7th in Stroke Play; Quarterfinals of Match Play
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Final
Women's Golf
vs NCAA Championship
Janangelo & Tucker Tie For Third On FUTURES Tour
7/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Release provided by FUTURES Golf Tour
SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- On paper, she's a 20-year-old rookie. On the golf course, Ha-Na Chae proved she has the tools to beat 143 other professionals.
Not only did Chae win the $70,000 Alliance Bank FUTURES Golf Classic by two shots, but she also battled back from a double-bogey on the seventh hole to roll in five more birdies on the back nine to grab the lead for good. Chae carded a three-under-par final-round score of 68 today and finished with a three-day total of 204 (-9).
The rookie edged Katie Allison (69) of Mahwah, N.J., who carded a seven-under-par total of 206 for second place at The Links at Erie Village.
"I can't believe what happened today," said Chae, a native of Seoul, Korea. "I was just waiting for the chances to come. I didn't give up for three days."
The rookie showed her patience early. Co-leaders from the second round, Kristina Tucker of Stockholm, Sweden and Smriti Mehra of Calcutta, India, both birdied the second hole to take a one-shot lead over Chae. But Chae tied Mehra when she birdied and Tucker bogeyed the fifth hole. More often than not, when a rookie is in contention for the first time and suffers a double-bogey early in the round -- as Chae did on the seventh hole -- they struggle to climb back into the game. But Chae thought back to something her dad had told her months ago.
"After the double on No. 7, I was shaking a little bit and just trying to find a rhythm and find my tempo," said Chae, with the interpreting help of fellow pro Sunny Oh of Las Vegas. "My father is in Seoul, but he told me to always be patient and to wait, and that things will come. After that double-bogey happened, I thought about what my dad said. And I was waiting."
"I thought she was out of it after she hit her ball into the water on No. 7, but she really came back on the second nine holes with a lot of birdies," added Tucker, 26, a third-year pro. "She hit it to eight feet on the 10th, and hit it really close on the 11th. From there, she just got momentum. Sometimes you have to work to make birdies, but they seemed to drop for her."
And they dropped often. Chae drained birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12. She lost a shot with a bogey on the 14th when she landed in a fairway bunker and didn't get up and down for par, but then she drained a 40-footer for birdie on the 15th and hit her shot on the 16th to within three feet.
"The 15th was the deciding hole," said Tucker. "If she would have three-putted there, it would have been a whole different story, but she pulled off the shots whenever she needed them. That's what good golf is about."
Playing a group ahead of Chae was Allison, who tied Chae for the lead with her 12-foot birdie on the 15th. The former LPGA Tour member moved within two shots of Chae with two to play. With a good read on the 18th green, Allison made a run at a birdie chance from 22 feet, hoping for a birdie and maybe a bogey by Chae for a playoff opportunity. But the birdie putt didn't fall and Chae's hands didn't shake when she calmly two-putted a 25-footer downhill for par on the 18th for the win.
"I played with Ha-Na last week and she struggled a bit, but she figured out what she was supposed to do and really capitalized on her birdie chances today," said Allison, 26, a third-year pro who finished the day with two birdies and no bogeys. "She might be a rookie, but she has some shots in her bag. She knows how to work the ball and she stays composed."
Plenty of players were chasing Chae, but none were able to catch her on the back nine, which she played at four-under par. Tying for third at 207 (-6) was the quartet of Tucker (71), Mehra (71), Julie Turner-Peluso (67) of Skaneateles, N.Y., and Liz Janangelo (68) of West Hartford, Conn.
Making valiant final-round charges were Salimah Mussani (65) of Burlington, Ontario, who tied for seventh at 208 (-5); Allison Fouch (66) of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Ashley Hoagland (67) of Palmetto, Fla., who tied for 11th at 209; and Kristy McPherson (65) of Conway, S.C., and Mollie Fankhauser (67) of Columbus, Ohio, who tied for 14th at 210.
Prior to today's win, Chae had posted a career-best tie for eighth at the Tour's event in Decatur, Ill., and she had finished in the top 10 in 13 tournaments. Her $9,800 winner's check today moved her from 35th to 14th on the Tour's season money list.
"She has made every cut," said Sunny Oh. "Ha-Na played on the Korean National Team, which is pretty strong. I think she was ready to win."
"She won so many times in Korean junior tournaments, so it's not that much of a surprise," added fellow Tour member Su A Kim of Seoul, who tied for 14th at 210. "Song-Hee [Kim] is a four-time winner this year and she's a rookie too, so when other Korean girls saw that, they say it is possible to win. Ha-Na is a winner now."
That, she is. Her peers shook cans of beer and sprayed the quiet player on the 18th green until her shirt was soaked. During the awards ceremony, her mother, Hyoung Lim Lee, stepped into some tall pampas grass beside the clubhouse with her cell phone and called home to Korea to tell her husband the good news.
And Chae, delivering her winner's speech in careful English, finally made that huge leap from amateur to professional golf with a bouquet of flowers in her arms and TV cameras in her face. She admitted to taking "lots of deep breaths."
"A lot of people cheered for me and now as a pro, I am thinking about more stuff," she said. "I knew that I couldn't give up because of all the attention. You can do that in junior golf, but you can't do that as a pro."
For scores and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com .
Weather: Mostly sunny with a high temperature of 73 degrees with wind around 7 mph.
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