Kaleigh Telfer had a two-stroke deficit on Saturday going into the final round of the Epson Tour’s Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah, but she ended up seven back in second place despite a closing three-under-par 69.
Fiona Xu of New Zealand, a rising star in women’s golf, set a new 54-hole scoring record for the Epson Tour at 22-under-par. Just three weeks ago, Juliana Hung set the all-time 54-hole scoring record at the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa at 21-under, where Xu finished runner-up, but it was Xu who finally broke through to get her first professional win.
Telfer had the impossible task of attempting to track down Xu during the final round, but the lead the Epson Tour rookie had was too much. Telfer put on a charge on the back nine, making an eagle on the par-five 12th and rolling in two more birdies on 16 and 17 to get to 16-under for the tournament. A bogey on the last hole of the day had the South African signing for a three-under 69 to close out her week.
“My game feels great and everything to just fell into place,” said Telfer. “Fiona played great golf today and it was just nice to watch her and see how you win a golf tournament. I’ll take a lot from that.”
Telfer’s first top-10 of the season has lifted her to 17th place in the Race for the Card, a significant step towards getting inside the top 15 who will win status on the LPGA Tour at the end of the season.
“It feels pretty great. I didn’t really expect to, you know, break the record, but I just played how I wanted to play and just took every opportunity the course gave me,” said Xu on her record-breaking performance as she jumped to the top of the Race for the Card rankings.
