Champagne flows as Mel Reid wins her first LPGA Tour title

Mel Reid seized control with a run of birdies around the turn and finished strongly for a 4-under 67 and a two-shot victory in the ShopRite LPGA Classic for her first LPGA Tour title.

Mel Reid en route to victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey.

The Briton’s only mistake on the back nine was a bogey on the par-3 17th at Seaview, which cut her four-shot lead in half when Jennifer Kupcho and Jennifer Song each made birdie.

From the right rough on the par-5 closing hole, Reid lashed a 6-iron knowing that short of the green would be fine with a two-shot lead and the other two players also in the rough. The ball came out hot and ran onto the edge of the green, effectively assuring victory in Galloway, New Jersey.

In her last start two weeks ago, Reid lost a two-shot lead in the Cambia Portland Classic. When she rapped in her 2-foot birdie putt on Sunday, she dropped her putter and the celebration was on. She was showered with a combination of beer and champagne, eventually grabbed a bottle of bubbly and took a swig.

Kupcho, the former NCAA champion at Wake Forest who last year won the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur, closed with two birdies for a 68 to finish alone in second. Song had a 69 and finished alone in third.

A victory on the US circuit is a breakthrough moment for Derby-born Reid who has won six times on the Ladies European Tour and enjoyed an impressive amateur career, including two Helen Holm Trophy wins.

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