PRESSEL RUNS AWAY WITH BETSY RAWLS, DOMINATES BY 11 SHOTS

Hole-in-one sparks fifth Invitational crown

MALVERN, Pa. – With a hole-in-one and an 11-shot margin of victory, Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton, Fla., added to her storied junior career and earned her fifth AJGA Invitational crown at the McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship. Pressel finished at 6-under-par 68-68-71—207, with each round’s score being the day’s lowest, and led wire-to-wire to complete her AJGA stroke-play career.

“It’s pretty important and exciting,” Pressel said. “I’m looking forward to moving on from here. I wouldn’t be the player I am if it wasn’t for my five years with the AJGA.”

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship was a 54-hole stroke-play invitational that featured 57 of the world’s best female junior golfers from 15 states and one foreign country. The field included 18 Rolex Junior All-Americans and eight 2005 AJGA tournament champions. The White Manor Country Club, home to the 1981-86 LPGA Tour McDonald's Classic and the Champions Tour's 1991 Bell Atlantic Classic, hosted the event for the second-straight year.

With this win, Pressel completed a career AJGA Invitational-slam, claiming victories at each of the five AJGA Invitational events in which she was eligible. This feat was accomplished by only one other player – boy or girl – in the Association’s 27-year history: Kellee Booth in the early 90s. Back then, however, the AJGA staged only four invitationals in which she could compete (the Thunderbird International Junior did not begin until 2000). Grace Park and Beth Bauer came close in the 90s, winning all but the Rolex Girls Junior Championship.

Even more impressive, Pressel took these five titles in slightly more than a year’s time. Her first invitational win came at the Rolex Tournament of Champions July 9, 2004. She then won the Polo Golf Junior Classic (Nov. 26, 2004), Thunderbird International Junior (May 30, 2005), Rolex Girls Junior Championship (June 17, 2005), and finally the McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship Thursday. Add to this distinction that she was a member of victorious teams at the PING Junior Solheim Cup (2002) and Canon Cup (2004), and there is little doubt that Pressel is one of the all-time great junior golfers.

She has won 11 AJGA titles in her career, placing her tied for sixth with Paula Creamer in the AJGA record book, behind Kellee Booth (18), Grace Park (18), Leigh Anne Hardin (18), Beth Bauer (17) and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman (15). Along the way, she was named a Rolex Junior All-American four times, including a first-team selection in 2003 and 2004.

Pressel’s hole-in-one was the first in her competitive career and third overall. The 11-wood on No. 3 landed on the front edge of the green, rolled across the putting surface, and found the hole 171 yards away.

“I hit a good shot,” Pressel said, laughing. “First I said, ‘be the right club,’ then, ‘go in,’ and it did.”

Esther Choe of Scottsdale, Ariz., 2005 Rolex Tournament of Champions winner, finished second with a three-round total of 72-71-75—218, and Joy Kim of Duluth, Ga., finished in third at 70-71-79—220. Kimberly Kim of Pahoa, Hawaii, finished in fourth at 73-72-76—221, while Tiffany Lua of Rowland Heights, Calif., Isabelle Lendl of Bradenton, Fla., and So-Hyun Park of Bradenton, Fla., tied for fifth at 224.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The largest Association of its kind, the AJGA has a junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 30 foreign countries.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which enters its third decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 200 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 280 wins. AJGA alumni include Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Mike Weir, Charles Howell III, Jim Furyk, Dottie Pepper, Grace Park, Cristie Kerr and Beth Bauer.

For more information on the McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship, please contact National Headquarters at (770) 868-4200.