Malaysia’s Kelly Tan and Finland’s Matilda Castren came close to winning the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational but had to settle for their second successive runner-up finish in the US$2.7 million team event on Saturday.
Best friends off the course, Tan and Castren showed great chemistry en route to a total of 22-under-par 258 at Midland Country Club in Michigan. They finished just one shot behind winners Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol of the United States.
One of the most popular events on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational has a unique format where the first and third rounds are alternate shot, while the second and fourth rounds are best-ball.
In a tension-packed final round, Tan and Castren carded a superb 63 with the latter narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff.
“This stings a bit because we really had a chance to win this year, and we even pulled level a couple times in the last round. But we played better than we did last year and only finished one back, so it was exciting,” said Tan.
“I feel great and confident now, looking at how I played the last couple of weeks. I started strong in the Dana Open and, honestly, with golf everything can change from week to week,” added the 29-year-old, who finished T59 in the previous week’s Dana Open after an opening 66.
Having struggled for the first half of 2023, Tan is now really looking forward to the rest of the season. The runner-up finish in Michigan vaulted her 90 spots up into 75th place on the LPGA Tour’s season-long Race to the CME Globe standings. Tan finished 67th in last year’s rankings.
“This pretty much secures my card for next season. From how my year started, this is exciting especially since I still have half the season to go. I am really happy because the past two weeks have made me believe again that I can win out here,” Tan noted.
Over the course of her 10-year professional career, Tan has set numerous benchmarks for Malaysian golf including best performance in a Major with her 13th place finish at the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. In 2020, she finished a career-high 37th on the Race to the CME Globe.
Tan will have a few weeks off before her next start in mid-August at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. She is based in Calagary, Canada, with her husband Dustin Lattery.
“I’ll have a few days back home to relax and then I may head back to Malaysia before my next event in Ireland, which starts a stretch of four events in a row. The Canadian Open in Vancouver in late August is something I’m really looking forward to!
“These last two weeks really gave me a chance to still achieve my goals for this year. I have always been proud of how I never stop believing in myself and keep persevering,” shared Tan, who hails from Batu Pahat in Johor.
In April this year, Tan was appointed as the ASEAN ambassador for Maybank, Malaysia’s largest financial services and banking group. She will be part of the field when the LPGA Tour returns to Malaysia on October 26-29 with the US$3 million Maybank Championship at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
