MILTON, Ga. (AP) Nanna Koerstz Madsen rallied to beat former Stanford star Mariah Stackhouse on Sunday in the Symetra Classic.
Koerstz Madsen, the 22-year-old Danish player ranked 79th in the world, closed with a 4-under 68 at Atlanta National Golf Club to beat Stackhouse (72) and Ecuador's Daniela Darquea (67) by two strokes.
''I'm feeling very good right now. It feels great to win,'' Koerstz Madsen said. ''I didn't actually play very well at the start, but after hole five I made four birdies in a row and things changed.''
Koerstz Madsen earned $22,500 to jump from 17th to third on the money list with $30,325 in four starts. The top 10 at the end of the season will earn LPGA Tour cards.
''My big goal is to get my card for the LPGA this year so this is obviously a really good start for that,'' Koerstz Madsen said. ''I always knew I wanted to play on the LPGA because if I wanted to be a pro, I wanted to be one of the best.''
Koerstz Madsen finished at 11-under 205. She won the Ladies European Tour's event in the Czech Republic last year and represented Denmark in the Rio Olympics.
Stackhouse, the tour rookie from Riverdale, Georgia, took a two-stroke lead into the final round.
''Obviously, I am disappointed as I played well all week,'' Stackhouse said. ''The fact of the matter is I made some significant mental and technical changes to my game last week and came right out and shot 9 under, which is by far the best performance I've had this spring.''
She had a one-shot lead after a par on the 13th hole, but made three bogeys over the final five holes.
''I'm disappointed in the finish on the last couple holes, but my takeaway from this week is nothing but positives,'' Stackhouse said. ''I haven't been in contention in a long time and it is nice to know I still feel good in it. I really have no negative to takeaway.''
