‘The safety of our athletes, volunteers and staff is of the utmost importance’
IT’S been a long time since Clariss Guce took home a trophy but she will take a 13th place finish anytime. | Photograph courtesy of epsontour.com
OREGON — It may not be the finish she wished, but Filipina Clariss Guce wound up tied for 13th after organizers of the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic canceled the third and final round Sunday due to poor air quality brought about by wildfire in the region.
The 33-year-old Guce pocketed $3,133 after tying six others, eight shots shy of Chinese Xiaowen Yin who took the title.
Guce scored 68 in the second round and tallied a four-under 140 while other Filipino campaigners failed to make the cut.
The LPGA AQI guidelines consider the air quality level "hazardous," and as such, the rounds must be delayed, suspended or canceled as determined in the discretion of the LPGA Rules Committee.
"The safety of our athletes, volunteers, and staff is of the utmost importance," said Epson Tour chief business and operations officer Jody Brothers. "I'm disappointed for the athletes, our tremendous sponsor in Wildhorse Resort & Casino, and the fans who were here to see an exciting finish."
After 36 holes, Yin held a three-shot lead over American Alana Uriell who ended up placing second.
Yin is now the 2023 Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic champion. Yin put together back-to-back rounds of 66 (-6) to get her total to -12 for the tournament.
In her 36-holes played, Yin only posted three bogeys to accompany her 15 birdies.
The 18-year-old is an LPGA Tour member but had visa issues and was unable to play in the ISPS Handa World Invitational this week in Northern Ireland.
With the win in Pendleton, Yin picked up her third career Epson Tour victory and will take the momentum from this win into the rest of the LPGA Tour season.
Ashley Lau finished in solo third at 7-under but potentially gained the most from the finish. The rookie came into the week 128th on the Race for the Card Standings and potentially heading to LPGA Qualifying Tournament — Stage I if she did not make the cut.
