Morris rips Rodriguez in PNGA final

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Rachel Morris overpowered Cyna Rodriguez, cutting the reigning RP Ladies Open champion down to size with an 8 and 6 romp in the final of the PNGA (Pacific Northwest Golf Association) Women’s Amateur Championship crown in Clarkston, Washington Friday.

Morris, who topped the 36-hole stroke play elims, put on amazing display of shotmaking, dominating the entire match against the ICTSI-backed bet, who struggled with her bulky putter throughout.

“Cyna struggled all day with her putting. Her driving was almost perfect, hitting 90 percent of the fairway and her iron game was OK too,” said ICTSI team coach Bong Lopez.

Down by four in the morning 18 holes, Rodriguez made a three-putt bogey in their second stint on No. 1, missed four birdie putts inside eight feet in the next five holes.

She had another three putt for bogey on the 27th hole and flubbed another two birdie chances in the next three holes to yield the match and the crown won by another ICTSI mainstay Dottie Ardina in Arizona last year.

In contrast, Morris made a 60-foot par putt on the par-4 12th hole to win the hole and capped off the morning round with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in front of a large gallery.

After a lunch break, Morris won the first two holes of the afternoon round to go 6-up. Her approach shot on the par-5 2nd hole, the 20th hole of the match, landed in the cup before bouncing out to five inches for a conceded birdie.

Rodriguez was able to get the margin back to five holes after a birdie on the next hole but that’s as close as it would get as Morris continued to play error-free.

This was Morris’ first women’s amateur victory after a decorated junior career.

She will be a teammate of Rodriguez when she joins the women’s golf program for the University of Southern California Trojans this fall.