Janangelo Grabs First Duramed FUTURES Tour Title In Tampa

RIVERVIEW, Fla. - When players arrived to the Tampa suburb of Riverview earlier this week, the buzz was about how 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour member Meaghan Francella had taken Annika Sorenstam to a four-hole playoff to win her first LPGA Tour event. And by today's final round, Francella's influence still was apparent when the winner, from rival Duke University, was still talking about it.

"Meaghan inspired me to play better," said 2006 Duke graduate Liz Janangelo, who played many college matches against Francella, a former Tar Heel. "I feel like if she can go out there and play great on the LPGA Tour, then I can play great out here on the Duramed FUTURES Tour."

And inspiration was exactly what it took for Janangelo to win the $75,000 Greater Tampa Duramed FUTURES Classic. Heavy rains hammered the 6,377-yard Summerfield Crossings Golf Club on Friday, suspending play for an hour after the course became unplayable. Because of the delay, play was again suspended for darkness on Friday evening, bringing 27 players back to the course on Saturday morning to complete the first round. And then the spring winds blew in off the Gulf of Mexico, blowing hopes and approach shots wayward in 25-mph winds.

But Janangelo, a tiny, but powerful long-ball hitter with the same Irish-Italian bloodline as Francella, hunkered down in the wind and held her ground to win her first professional title with scores of 71-72-72 for a two-over-par total of 215. Struggling with bumpy greens against the wind, Janangelo hit 15 greens in regulation in each of the three rounds and used her length to birdie the final hole and close out her first professional win.

"Walking up the 18th fairway today, I knew I had to make a birdie on that hole," said Janangelo, 23, of West Hartford, Conn. "And to be able to do it felt great because I've been struggling with confidence and putting down the stretch. I had a lot of three-putts this week and that's really unacceptable, but to win is unbelievable. I feel like a lot of hard work is finally paying off."

Since 2000, there have been only five tournaments won by scores over par on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. And this week's tough weather conditions in the second event of the season left a lot of players feeling ruffled in the wind on the par-71 tract that featured demanding par fours and long par fives. Patience was a virtue worth more than a truckload of Pro V1s.

Fortunately, Janangelo wasn't derailed when she got off to a rocky start with a three-putt bogey from 25 feet on the second hole, then added another bogey on the third when she failed to get up and down for par from a hazard. On the sixth hole, she blew her wedge over the back of the green and didn't get up and down for par from 12 feet. But the tiny dynamo hit the par-five, 500-yard 9th green in two shots and rolled in a birdie, then saw her winning opportunity on the 520-yard, par-five 18th hole when Emily Bastel, who led for most of the afternoon, bogeyed the 17th hole to drop into a tie for the lead with one hole to play.

"I knew I could get home in two on the 18th and I knew I had to take advantage of it," said Janangelo, who hit her 16-degree Rescue wood 230 yards downwind to set up a 25-foot eagle putt.

Bastel laid up with a 7-wood on her second shot to set up a 60-yard wedge approach into the 18th green, which she hit to 17 feet. Her eagle effort missed, but Janangelo converted a birdie in two putts for the win.

"It's obviously disappointing not to win being that close, but I missed the cut last week in Lakeland (Fla.) and to be in the last group and to be in contention this week, I'm pleased about that," said Bastel, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who tied for second this week with Tour veteran Marilyn Lovander of Gainesville, Fla., at 216 (+3).

Playing in what she called her "final professional tournament" on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and LPGA Tour, Lovander displayed her patience and experience in adverse conditions. She fired a one-under-par, final-round 70 and rolled in 29 putts with five birdies ranging from 10 to 40 feet.

"It was fun and with great company, so this is a good way to leave it," said Lovander, 52, an LPGA Tour veteran and the Duramed FUTURES Tour's all-time leading money winner with 10 tournament wins dating back to 1984. "This week, when I opened up the door of the hotel and looked in, I was real happy this was the end. I'm happy I get to go do something else for a while."

Experience obviously has been a factor early in the season this year. Six-time winner Lori Atsedes won the Tour's season opener in Lakeland two weeks ago. And this week, players finishing in the top 10 included LPGA Tour veteran Audra Burks (73) of Altamonte Springs, Fla., and former LPGA Tour member Janell Howland (73) of Boise, Idaho, both tied for fourth at 217 (+4).

Three players tying for sixth at 218 (+5) were LPGA Tour veteran Marianne Morris (69) of Middletown, Ohio, Lynn Valentine (71) of East Lyme, Conn., and fourth-year player Rachel Bailey (74) of Faulconbridge, Australia. And tied for ninth at 219 (+9) were LPGA Tour veteran Lisa Hall (70) of Stoke-on-Trent, England, former Korean LPGA Tour member Ha-Na Chae (71) of Seoul, Korea, former LPGA Tour member Brandi Jackson (74) of Greenville, S.C., and fourth-year player Dana Lacey (75) of Perth, W. Australia.

So much for the diaper dandies in the spring Florida wind.

But second-year player Janangelo was ready this week, and her mom, Anne Janangelo, was happy to have her flight delayed until Monday morning to Hartford, Conn., which was having its own snowy weather woes.

"Last year, Liz was like a file clerk, storing things away and preparing herself for this year," said her mom. "She knows she's taken a big step toward accomplishing those goals she has set for herself."

And this is only the beginning.

For scores and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Sunny and clear with a high temperature of 68 degrees with winds around 16 mph.

Janangelo Grabs First Duramed FUTURES Tour Title In Tampa

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