PROVO — Lea Garner cruised to her second straight Siegfried & Jensen Utah Women’s Open title Thursday with a five-stroke victory over amateurs Katrina Prendergast of Sparks, Nevada, and Carly Dehlin of Draper.
Garner, a 2016 graduate of BYU, added a 5-under-par 67 to her 68 Wednesday at East Bay Golf Course to easily outdistance the field and claim the $2,000 first prize.
The Washington Terrace pro was tied with recent BYU graduate Annie Yang going into the round and got out quickly with a birdie at the first hole and two more birds on the front nine for a 34. Then on the back side, she made birdies at 12, 13, 15 and 16, sandwiched around a bogey at No. 14 to finish with a 33.
By winning, Garner became eligible to play in next week’s men’s Utah Open at Riverside CC, but she will instead compete at the LPGA Q School tournament.
Prendergast, a 20-year-old who plays for Colorado State University, fired a sparkling 63 that included nine birdies and nine pars but finished five shots back at 140 after shooting a 77 the previous day.
Dehlin, a senior at Southern Utah University, matched Garner’s 67 with a bogey-less round and also finished at 140. Yang made an early birdie, but had six bogeys and finished with a 77 for fifth place at 145.
Recent Utah Women’s Amateur champion Tess Blair finished fourth at 142, while Catherine Kim, a pro from Las Vegas, tied with Yang for fifth place.
Utah Women’s Open results
East Bay Golf Course (par-72)
(a-amateur)
135 – Lea Garner (68-67)
140 – a-Carly Dehlin (73-67), a-Katrina Prendergast (77-63)
142 – a-Tess Blair (69-73)
145 – Catherine Kim (69-76), a-Annie Yang (68-77)
146 – a-Samantha Crawford (78-68), a-Kerstin Fotu (71-75)
147 – a-Jessica Sloot (74-73), Haley Sturgeon (73-74)
148 – a-Laura Gerner (72-76)
149 – a-Marissa Louder (73-76)
150 – a-Cailyn Cardall (76-74)