Huge legends win now on their ledger
QUINCY - Sometimes, all you need to do is sleep on it and try again tomorrow.
That certainly worked for Cindy Figg-Currier yesterday. Rain washed out her last three first-round holes Saturday at the BJ's Charity Classic, so she and partner Sherri Turner had to resume play at 8 yesterday morning at Granite Links Golf Club.
Greeting Figg-Currier's sleepy eyes was an eagle try on 16 from 90 yards, which she promptly sent into a yawning cup.
"I think I play better when I'm half-asleep," mused Figg-Currier, a 25-year LPGA veteran.
Whatever their level of consciousness, she and Turner served a wakeup call to the rest of the field. They rode nine birdies - and another eagle chip by Figg-Currier, this time from 35 yards - to an 11-under-par 61. They finished with a 21-under 123 total during the two-day event, winning for the first time on the Legends Tour, made up of LPGA players and teaching pros 45 and older.
"We're excited. It's indescribable," said the 51-year-old Turner, a Tucson native.
In the 2006 Classic, Figg-Currier and Turner fired a final-round 59, but it wasn't enough to defeat Christa Johnson and Nancy Scranton, who dropped an eagle putt on 18 to steal a one-stroke victory. This time around, it was Figg-Currier and Turner beating the two-time defending champs by four strokes and earning a $100,000 purse to split. It was the first tournament win in 19 years for Turner.
Scranton and Johnson had 11 birdies in their second-round 61, but they couldn't rebound from a first-round 66. "We gave ourselves a lot of chances," said Scranton, whose team made it a one-stroke match midway through the round before falling back. "We ham-and-egged it a lot better today, but we just got a little too far behind [Saturday]." Their 127 total earned them $70,000.
Jan Stephenson and Cindy Rarick overcame a 68 Saturday by firing a 61 yesterday and tying for third place.
Nancy Lopez and Val Skinner and Rosie Jones and Beth Daniel also finished at 129, with the third-place finishes earning the teams $32,333 each.
Only 10 teams got their round in before play was called close to 5 p.m., because of rain. After an hour delay, the players scrambled back onto the course, only to have lightning drive them back in.
When play finally resumed, Figg-Currier and Turner had six wet holes to go to maintain their lead.
"It did change the course a bit," said Turner of the wet weather. "But we kept hanging in there, knowing we were going to make some birdies, and we did."
