The women on the Epson Tour rounded out their stint in the Sunshine State on Sunday, with a winner truly decided at the final putt drop at Grasslands Golf and Country Club in Lakeland. In the first-ever rendition of the event, a tournament riddled with birdies across the leaderboard came down to the final pairing, which included rising star Mariel Galdiano and veteran Maddie McCrary. And while Galdiano sank an eagle from over 40 feet to finalize her round of 67, it just wasn’t enough.
“[The drive] was narrow, kind of in that fairway, so I knew I needed to hit driver anyway to give myself the opportunity for a birdie,” McCrary said about her approach on 18. “But the second shot was probably the scariest part. I was going for the left side of the green but went right at it. Eagle was nice to finish with.”
McCrary, 30, solidified her first professional win on Sunday, eight years since she turned pro. She finished one stroke ahead of Galdiano and two ahead of Epson Tour winner Kiira Riihijärvi. She walked into the clubhouse a champion with no bogeys on the weekend, and 500 points richer in the Race for the Card.
“Honestly, this is stuff that I dream of, so it feels really, really good,” McCrary said immediately following the win. “Completing with no bogeys is even better, so this win was definitely for the best.”
The Oklahoma State alum is no stranger to the top of the leaderboard, having secured top-10 finishes each of the past five seasons, her most recent a T6 in Palm Springs last year at the IOA Championship. But with a 36-hole lead, and momentum on her side, McCrary took full advantage in Central Florida this weekend, posting up four birdies on Sunday in her bogey-free round.
“These past two days, I’ve just been breathing a lot,” she said. “Belly breathing has been something that’s really, really helped me stay calm and just stay in the moment.
“I had so much peace out there with me today. I would have loved to win many times in the past, but I failed so much to get here, and I know that these moments were worth it.”
McCrary’s Sunday partner, Hawaii native Mariel Galdiano, was 3-under on the day prior to her impressive eagle on 18. Heading into Sunday, there was a certain ease for Galdiano, who has become close friends with McCrary this season. The two even have lived with host families together, common among women on the various professional tours.
“I saw that I was playing with Maddie, and we just stayed together in housing two weeks ago, so I knew it was going to be a pretty mellow day,” Galdiano said. “But nonetheless, being in the final group is always going to be a little nerve-racking.”
The former UCLA Bruin, who has her dad on the bag and was a rookie on the LPGA Tour last season, hid her nerves well heading into the 54th hole of the Orlando Health Championship. With her family in the crowd and a potential win on the mind, Galdiano replaced the nerves with confidence, placing her within arms’ length of the lead.
“I didn’t really know where I stood,” Galdiano said. “I just knew I needed some birdies on the stretch. I was a little hesitant on the tee box, and my dad kind of talked me into just full sending driver and going for it since it was only about 460.
So I was like, ‘I mean, F it. Like this is the last hole. Like what else can happen?’ So I just went for it.”
Riihijärvi, whose only professional win on the Epson Tour came in 2022, posted the low round of the day, an 8-under, bogey-free 64 following back-to-back rounds of 71. The Finnish golfer is well within the top 25 in the Race for the Card, with her solo third finish in Lakeland her second top-10 finish this season. Prior to Galdiano and McCrary’s finishes, Riihijärvi was a leader in the clubhouse.
“Honestly, it kind of felt pretty easy all over,” Riihijärvi said. “I’ve been just getting back to basics and just having the correct setup and getting the ball starting straight. So it’s been really basic stuff that I’ve been working on and just trying to take it shot by shot and not worry too much about the results.”
University of Alabama alum Elina Sinz also posted a bogey-free round Sunday, going towards a 5-under-67 for the Texan. The Orlando Health Championship was only the second start this season for Sinz, who was a rookie on Tour last season.
“It’s just sticking to the game plan really well yesterday, and the first day I felt like I left a couple shots out there,” Sinz said. “So I was just trying to be really patient and intentional, especially with the wind being a little bit more than it was yesterday but just placing my tee shots really well.”
Rylee Suttor, one of the sponsor invites whose mom has been a patient at Orlando Health, missed the cut by one stroke. Brooke Biermann was the only amateur of three in the field to make the cut this week.
There will be a brief four-week break in competition for the Epson Tour, but the Race for the Card continues outside of Palm Springs in late April, at The IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa.
