Maddie McCrary poses for pictures with the trophy after winning the Orlando Health Championship on March 22 for her first win as a professional golfer. Courtesy Maddie McCrary
By David Wolman
For Maddie McCrary, the wait was worth it.
After seven years, more than 100 career starts on the Epson Tour, two hip surgeries and one wrist surgery, McCrary’s perseverance has finally paid off.
McCrary, a Wylie High graduate, shot a 12-under-par 204 over the 54-hole Orlando Health Championship March 18-20 for her first career professional win.
“Honestly, this is stuff that I dream of,” McCrary told Epsontour.com. “It feels really good. It’s a good momentum for me. I feel good. My game feels really great, my putter feels awesome. I’m just really excited to get home and celebrate with everybody then go back out on the road and do it again, hopefully.”
The No. 18 hole provided for late dramatics.
McCrary led by two strokes over Mariel Galdiano going into the final hole and then hit what she said was the shot of the day, hitting her 170-yard approach to withing 15 feet of the hole.
Galdiano proceeded to make the situation a little more tense for McCrary after she posted an eagle, but that shot didn’t rattle McCrary’s focus. McCrary remained poised, sinking a birdie with her putter to win the three-day event by one stroke.
“The second shot was probably the scariest part,” McCrary said. “I was going for the left side of the green but went right at it, and 10 feet below the hole for eagle was a nice way to finish up.”
A bogey-free three-day stretch on the course paved the way for McCrary’s breakthrough tournament, a feat that she says had never happened in any junior, amateur or professional event. She sank four birdies on her final day in Lakeland, Fla.
“I kept the ball in front of me,” she said. “I really didn’t get into too much trouble. I plugged myself into a bunker but hit it to within a couple of feet. I was able to get it up and down. That was a real momentum changer for me.”
McCrary won $37,500 in earnings for her first-place finish and 500 Epson Tour points. With the win, she has 516 points for the season, good for seventh place. The top 15 leaders in points after the season will qualify for the LGPA, which she previously played in for two years. The Wylie native turned pro in 2018.
McCrary will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, June 4-7 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
Currently, the Epson Tour is taking a four-week break. And while McCrary won’t compete again until April 24, she has one important life priority upcoming during that break from golf: getting married. She will walk down the aisle April 17.
“We hope to have the trophy from the Orlando Health Championship at the wedding,” she said. “It was really great to get my first win. I wouldn’t call it a relief, but I have been playing the game for so long. It was finally nice to win.”
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