The Sally: Thompson coasts to 13-stroke victory

ORMAND BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 17, 2009) -- Alexis Thompson, one of the fastest-rising junior golfers in the country, won the second stop of the Orange Blossom Tour by the same amount of strokes as her age, 13. She went 68-70-73-72--283 at the Women's South Atlantic Amateur, also known as the Sally, finishing five strokes under par and a baker's dozen better than her nearest competition, former Kent State golfer team member Kira Meixner. Scotland’s Kelsey MacDonald carded a final-round 74 to finish in third, two strokes back. The Coral Springs native, who is the reigning U.S. Girls' Junior champion, was two strokes away from winning the first stop of the tour when she finished runner-up to Auburn's Candace Schepperle last week at the Harder Hall Invitational. The Orange Blossom Tour, which serves as an early-season look at some of the top women amateurs in the country, picks up again Jan. 19th with the start of the Ione D. Jones/Doherty Championship, which concludes on Saturday. The tour finishes up with the Women's International Four-Ball, which runs Jan. 26-30.