Hole-in-one powers Wylie amateur to Women’s Open title

Wylie amateur Maddie McCrary aced the par-3 fourth hole at Rolling Hills Country Club on Wednesday en route to a closing 68 and a five-shot victory in the Texas Women’s Open.

McCrary is the first amateur to win the event since Carolyn Creekmore, Shannon Fish and Tanya Wadhwa did it in succession from 2006-08.

McCrary, who will be a sophomore on Oklahoma State’s women’s team this fall, backed up the hole-in-one with birdies at No. 5 and No. 6.

She had a five-shot lead over former champion Christi Cano and former NCAA champion Chirapat Jao-Javanil from Oklahoma three times during the round, while easing her way to the closing hole.

“I hit the ball really well today and got some momentum with the hole-in-one there,” McCrary said. “It’s one of those things where if you’re playing well you just kind of try to keep it going and not worry about what the other players are doing.”

Since McCrary played as an amateur, the winner’s check of $6,000 slid to Jao-Javanil, who finished alone in second after Cano three-putted the final hole.

After making the turn at 4 under, McCrary started to shift into cruise control.

She rebounded from a bogey at No. 10 where an awkward stance near the left fairway bunker forced her to play right of the green. McCrary was unable to get up and down but rallied with a birdie at the par-5 11th hole.

McCrary went out in 31 on the front nine but finished 2 over on the back. Her 68 tied with two others as low round of the day after the course softened from an afternoon rain. That storm halted play for an hour, and the final group didn’t wrap up until around 8:15 p.m.

Cano had the best chance of catching McCrary and briefly took the lead with birdies at No. 1 and No. 3. But the San Antonio pro played the next 10 holes 1 over and couldn’t reel in McCrary nor protect her position in second place.

Jao-Javanil, who had one of the 68s after a bogey-free round, tied for second with amateur Maty Monzingo of Corpus Christi. Aledo’s Cheyenne Knight rebounded from an opening-round 77 to shoot 69 in the second round and climb into the top 10.

Amateur Maggie Neece and professional Emily Collins, both of Colleyville, finished tied for 14th along with Arlington’s Katy Harris.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Hole-in-one powers Wylie amateur to Women’s Open title."