By Mark Gregory
Editorial Director
@Hear_The_Beard
mark@buglemewspapers.com
As Jessica Porvasnik reached the end of the daunting, three-hole run known as Kelpie’s Korner, she saw a leaderboard and knew she was in the mix for the lead —despite what the scores showed.
Ohio State graduate Jessica Porvasnik won the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Romeoville’s Mistwood Golf Course. (Photo by Mark Gregory)
“I saw a leaderboard at No. 16 tee that showed four under was leading and I knew I was four under,” Porvasnik said. “The score for me was two under and I knew that was wrong and I was tied. I knew I needed to try and get one or two more to fall on the way in.”
She waited until the final hole of the tournament, but got that final birdie and won the tournament over Mistwood teaching pro Nicole Jeray.
“To make the 15-footer on the last (hole) that was special,” Porvasnik said. “I knew Nicole and I were close, especially when she birdied the three in a row, so I knew the last hole really meant something. To put it on the green and sink the putt was really cool.”
Porvasnik and Jeray, however, were not the final group, so she had to wait for the tournament to conclude.
“The last group, you don’t know, so you have to have stick to your game and make as many birdies as you can,” she said.
Porvasnik ended the tournament with a 5-under 211 and a one-stroke victory over Jeray to win the in the 25th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open.
It was the 21st time the event was held at Mistwood.
“I played here the last two years and this is an awesome course. The first time I played here I knew I was definitely coming back,” she said about the Romeoville-based course. “It is a fun golf course, it is getable with certain winds.”
Porvasnik is a native of Hinckley, Ohio and a 2017 graduate of Ohio State University.
The Illinois Women’s Open win earned her a $5,000 prize and followed her first check on the LPGA circuit, earning $4,085 at an event in Toledo.
“Last week, I Monday qualified for the LPGA event in Toledo and I made the cut there, so this has been a great two weeks. That was my first check on tour.
Playing with some of the best golfers in the world, it was cool knowing I am not far off.”
Locally, amateur Arushi Singh of Woodridge placed 16th with a 7-over par 224. She was followed by amateur Mandi Granato, a 2018 Plainfield South graduate, finished in 17th place, 8-over-par for the tournament.
Maggie Micetich of Woodridge and Rachel Leucuta of Downers Grove, both amateurs competed but missed the cut.