Article courtesy of Duramed FUTURES Tour

Three weeks ago, Duramed FUTURES Tour alumna KRISTY MCPHERSON of South Carolina nearly got to take the traditional winner's plunge at the Kraft Nabisco Championship -- the LPGA's first major championship of the season. She tied for second in her career-best finish on the LPGA Tour.

Last week, the two-time winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour gladly served as caddie in Lafayette, La., for good friend JENNY GLEASON of Clearwater, Fla. The two have played together both on the LPGA and Duramed FUTURES Tour.

"I wanted to come down and hang out and see my friends and my former housing hosts," said McPherson, who earned 2007 LPGA status by finishing in the top five of the money list on the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour. "And I think you can learn a lot being on the other side of the golf ball."

Tour alumna MEREDITH DUNCAN of Shreveport, La., also drove down to Lafayette last week to caddie in the pro-am for Tour member JANELL HOWLAND of Boise, Idaho. Duncan, now also a full-time member on the LPGA Tour, looped for Howland, a former Louisiana Pelican Classic tournament winner, before hustling back up the highway to prepare for this week's event in Mexico.

"I'm only three hours away and I would feel like a jerk if I didn't at least come down here and say hello to a lot of people," said Duncan. "I want to see people that I'm not going to see in a while, including my [former] host family and everybody out here."

Duncan and McPherson have retained many friendships on the LPGA's developmental tour and seem perfectly at home visiting on the professional tour where they got their respective starts.

"I played out here for 3 1/2 years, which is a little longer than I wanted it to be," said McPherson. "But it turns out that I needed every bit of that time to work on my game and learn how to win."

McPherson and Duncan volunteer as caddies

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