Instead of resting between the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee, 2020 LPGA Tour rookie Matilda Castren took to the Epson Tour to keep her competitive juices flowing. What may have started as a tune-up turned into her first professional victory, a wire-to-wire performance at the Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship presented by IOA. Her successful play seemed to follow her this week as she sits in a tie for seventh at -6 heading into Saturday at the Great Waters Course.
“I been playing well for the last month or two, so I just kind of wanted to keep going after KPMG. It was nice playing on Epson. I played there for two years so I have quite a few friends there. It was a nice feeling to be back,” said Castren. “I managed to get a win, so it felt great to get my first professional win. And, yeah, just wanted to keep playing. Now I'm playing this and the next two Epson and trying to get the U.S. Open spot.”
Castren finished strong today with birdies on her last three holes, but she said she’s looking to get back some of the shots she left out there on the course. Despite a roller-coaster day, Castren is still on a high from the compliments she’s received since arriving to Reynolds Lake Oconee on her Epson Tour win.
“Definitely got a lot of congratulations from Mike Whan, for example. He texted me right after the third round last week, so that felt really special,” said Castren. “Got a lot of congratulations from the players here, even players that I don't know or just know their names. So that felt really nice.”
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