Rogowicz wins Women's Porter Cup in quick playoff

Jackie Rogowicz’s ride to the Women’s Porter Cup title was almost a very smooth one. Rogowicz, a Yardley, Pa., native, went 4 under on the front nine in her final round at Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, N.Y. She had a two-shot lead by the time she stepped up to the par-3 18th, then she found the sand.

After Rogowicz, 21, buried her approach in a bunker front of the green, it started to go south. It took two shots to get out of the sand and Rogowicz left the hole with double. It dropped her to a final-round 71 and at 8 under, she was tied with Australian Isabelle Taylor.

Ulimtately, Rogowicz regrouped and won the title on the first playoff hole.

“It’s amazing,” Rogowicz told The Buffalo News. “It’s probably the biggest amateur event I’ve won, so it’s pretty big for me.”

Rogowicz recently completed her senior season at Penn State. She competed in all 11 tournaments. In fact, she never missed a start in her four years with the Nittany Lions.

She finished 16th and fifth at the Women’s Porter Cup the past two years.

In Friday’s final round, Rogowicz led by as many as five shots. She was two shots ahead at the beginning of the day, made birdie on the first hole with a 30-foot putt, then birdied both the par 5s on the front. She was 11 under by then and five ahead of the next-best player.

Behind Taylor in second, Canadian Brigitte Thibault was third at 5 under. Thibault, who plays for Fresno State, played the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this spring.

First-round leader Mary Parsons, who plays for the University of Indiana, was fourth at 4 under and Kent State player Kory Nielsen rounded out the top 5 at 3 under.