Belen Mozo had the perfect day Monday. She got an early start on correcting the mistakes she made during Sunday's first round of the Mad Anthonys Charity Classic for Children at Sycamore Hills Golf Club. The first pro player to tee off, she went on to card a course-record-tying 66.
Then she got to relax in the air conditioning while the heat and the wind wore down her fellow LPGA pros.
``I kept checking, but it got to a point where I said, 'Let's let God decide if I'm going to win or not,''' Mozo said. ``It wasn't doing me any good to keep checking the leader board.''
Mozo, 23, finished the two-round tournament with a 4-under score to win $50,000. Angela Stanford, Azahara Munoz and Beatriz Recari tied for second at 2-under on the par-72 course. Stacy Lewis finished even and Vicky Hurst 1-over.
Mozo's 66 on Monday tied the course record set Aug. 4 by Ariya Jutanugarn in the Junior PGA event and could have been even better but three putts lipped out.
``Three really badly bounce to the point where you start to fist bump ahead of time and then you see it lip out,'' Mozo said. ``I took revenge over (Sunday). I ended up 2-over because my putts. I like to analyze my mistakes when I am done without the emotions just to get better. I realized I was getting the right break and the right line, but I was hitting them too hard, so they were lipping out because of speed. Today, I had a better tempo and I just made all the putts I didn't make yesterday.''
This was the first year the Mad Anthonys used a two-day format, and the spectators were definitely more spread out. Though there was a smaller gallery than last year, organizers were shooting for a goal of raising $200,000 for Children's Hope House. Last year's donation was $115,000.
This was also the first year for LPGA pro and Fort Wayne native Amanda Blumenherst to serve as hostess of the event. She finished with an 8-over score.
``I wasn't happy really at all with my play all-around, but I was happy with the event,'' she said. ``A lot of fans came out and supported us and it seemed everyone enjoyed themselves.
``All the pros who have spoken to me said they absolutely love Sycamore Hills ... Everything has been very positive and super-exciting. The course is playing a little bit longer than I am used to playing, which is a good thing, and it was also quite a bit windier which I don't think they were planning for. A couple of those holes were really quite long, but we had a good time.''
Blumenherst said she's encouraged to try the two-day format again next year and said it was easy to attract the 12 pros to come to Fort Wayne.
``I was very nervous going into this event that everything was going to run the way it was supposed to, just because the Mad Anthonys in the past has been such a success,'' Blumenherst said. ``It was a little more nerve-wracking. I think this was the start-off year. I would have liked to see a few more people come out and support it, but I'm hoping it will just build momentum for next year.''
