Emma Talley bobbled a bit in the final round but birdied the 18th hole to save a top 25 finish at the LPGA Volvik Open Sunday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Helped by a career-best 6-under score in the third round, Talley finished tied for 21st place. She shot a 1-over in Sunday’s final round to finish the event at 8-under, eight shots behind the winner Minjee Lee.
Talley opened with a 3-under in the first round and shot even-par in Friday’s second round. The Princeton golfer tallied six birdies without a bogey Saturday to shoot a 6-under 66 for her best round on the LPGA Tour. She needed just 23 putts and hit all but one fairway off the tee Saturday.
On Sunday, Talley was at 10-under and tied for sixth place after eight holes. However, bogeys on three of her next nine holes dropped her to 7-under. She finished the round with a birdie to get back to 8-under for the tournament.
Talley earned $14,173 for her weekend in Michigan, which is where she brought home her first win on the Symetra Tour last year. Talley has earned $135,793 on the LPGA Tour this year, which puts her at 43rd on the money list. She needs to remain in the top 80 to keep her tour card for 2019.
She also ranked 34th on the Rolex Player of the Year standings and third in the Rolex Rookie of the Year point standings.
Talley now heads back to her college home of Alabama for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Shoal Creek, the course she played and practiced on in college. Talley and rest of the LPGA will wait and see if Tropical Storm Alberto causes heavy rain over Alabama this week ahead of the U.S. Open.