Alabama’s Gillman wins second title
Kristen Gillman won the U.S. Women’s Amateur for the second time Sunday, beating Alabama teammate Jiwon Jeon 7 and 6 in the 36-hole final at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs.
“It’s really cool to be able to have it on there again,” Gillman said about her name on the Robert Cox Trophy. “Everyone who was playing in this tournament was picturing their name on it at the end of the week, so it’s really nice to be able to do that and accomplish that.”
The 20-year-old from Austin, Texas, also won in 2014 as a 16-year-old at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y.
On Sunday, Gillman was 5-up after nine holes, winning four straight from Nos. 4-7. She was 5-up after 18 holes and increased the margin to seven on the second 18.
Gillman won the Japan LPGA’s Century 21 Ladies Golf Tournament last month for her first victory in a professional event. She also was part of U.S. victories in the Curtis Cup and Palmer Cup, and tied for 27th this year in the U.S. Women’s Open.
Gillman’s four-year span between titles is the second-largest in event history. Dorothy Campbell Hurd had a 14-year period between titles, winning in 1910 and 1924. Margaret Curtis also had a four-year span between titles, winning her first in 1907 and second in 1911.
Jeon, 21, is from South Korea. She transferred from Daytona State College to Alabama, with Gillman serving as Jeon’s host when she took her recruiting trip to Tuscaloosa last fall.
“She was very consistent all day,” Jeon said. “It was a little difficult for me to catch up on her. But that is the one I cannot control.”
Web.com Tour: Trevor Cone won the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 6-under-par 64 for a four-stroke victory over Josh Teater.
Cone, a 25-year-old former Virginia Tech player who started the year with only conditional status on both Web.com and Mackenzie tours, finished at 23-under 257. He opened with rounds of 64, 63 and 66 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round
Cone earned $108,000 to jump from 135th to 37th on the money list with $131,580. The top 25 next week after the seasonending Portland Open earn PGA Tour cards.
Teater closed with a 67.