Motivated Mulhall cruises to 14-under for 1st pro win at Utah Women's Open

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two years ago, Utah amateur golf star Kelsey Chugg and future pro Ali Mulhall played one of the top shot-for-shot final matches in the Utah women's state amateur before Chugg held off Mulhall 1 up at TalonsCove Golf Course.

Mulhall turned pro shortly after, and has played mostly on the WAPT tour as she prepares for LPGA qualifying school this fall.

But when the chance to play TalonsCove again — this time in a professional setting — arose at the 10th annual Larry H. Miller Utah Women's Open, Mulhall set her sights on a clear focus.

"I told my mom when I found out it was coming here that I wanted redemption on this course," Mulhall recalled.

"We're going low here, no matter what," she added. "I always had this (tournament) in the back of my mind all summer."

And she did.

The Black Desert golfer whose family moved to Washington County from their native Henderson, Nevada, so she could pursue her golf dreams shot back-to-back 65s to finish with a 36-hole total of 14-under-par 130 Tuesday to clinch her first professional win.

Hurricane's Haley Costello finished second at 10-under, followed by former BYU standout Lea Garner at 7-under.

There were plenty of challengers for the bid in the 10th edition of the women's tournament run opposite the Utah Open by the Utah Section PGA. But Mulhall never trailed thanks to a staggering start, a strong middle, and a finish that included birdie on the par-4, 396-yard 18th hole to punctuate her victory before turning to her caddie, younger sister Palmer Mulhall, for the big celebratory hug.

"Having Palmer on the bag meant more than winning. I knew wanted her on the bag this week, and having her for every shot was truly special."

After taking a three-stroke lead after 18 holes, Mulhall kept her foot on the gas.

The former teenage phenom who won the U.S. women's long drive championship at 16 years old opened the second round with a driver-eight iron combo before draining a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5, 475-yard first hole for a dream start.

She added another eagle with a driver-pitching wedge on the ninth hole to play the three par-5s on the front nine at 4-under, and led by as much as five strokes when she hit the turn. Mulhall estimated she was hitting the ball as far as 315 yards in her return to her home state after playing on the WAPT Tour.

Defending champion Emily Hoffman, who was a recent Salt Lake City transplant when she won the event a year ago at The Country Club, was one of the players to give chase.

The Epson Tour pro who played collegiately at Texas scattered four birdies en route to 4-under 32 on the front nine before carding her first bogey of the day on the par-4, 392-yard 10th.

Hoffman wasn't alone.

Former BYU golfer and 2019 Utah women's state amateur champion Kerstin Ngakuru (née Fotu) opened her second round who an eagle and scattered four birdies on Nos. 6 through 10 to pull to 6-under behind Mulhall before finishing tied for fourth with former Utah junior golf standout Grace Summerhays in her pro debut.

But two of Mulhall's top challengers came from her own group in Costello and Makena Junkin, the NAIA individual national champion at Texas Wesleyan who made her first trip to Utah with her parents and grandparents and came away with low amateur at 5-under and tied for sixth overall.

But in her debut tournament on the west shore of Utah Lake, Junkin picked her spots and found her putter while playing the par-5s at 3-under.

"The greens were rolling really nice," she said. "The course was in great condition, and that always helps.

"This one looked great with all of the mountains in the background, and I thought I'd give it a try. That's how I wound up here."

Larry H. Miller Utah Women's Open

TalonsCove Golf Course

Final leaderboard

• 130 — Ali Mulhall (p)
• 134 — Haley Costello (p)
• 137 — Lea Garner (p)
• 138 — Kerstin Ngakuru (p), Grace Summerhays (p)
• 139 — Faith Kilgore (p), Emilee Hoffman (p), Makena Junkin (a)
• 140 — Kelsey Chugg (a)
• 141 — Alexandra White (p)
• Full results available at utahpga.com

Related topics