The $122,000 purse she banked in ruling the LPGA Tournament of Champions over the weekend in Mobile, Alabama enabled the 23-year-old Delasin to leapfrog from No. 33 to 22nd place with $476,170 in earnings.
The feat, which she achieved over the world’s top women golfers, likewise gave her a ticket to this week’s Tyco/ADT Championship at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida where she hopes to play with the same confidence she had in nipping Korean Han Hee-won in a thrilling sudden-death duel at Magnolia Grove’s Crossings Sunday (Monday in Manila).
Delasin needed to finish fifth or better to jump from No. 33 on the money list inside the top 30 to qualify for the season-ending tournament, which begins Thursday. With her victory earnings, Delasin knocked Suzann Pettersen out of the Tour Championship.
"I’m really excited," said Delasin, referring to her stint in the Tour Championship where she is playing for the fourth straight time since her rookie year.
"I’m just going to go out there and try to put smiles on my face, be glad I’m there and try to play the best I can and see if I can win," added the 2000 PSA (Philippine Sportswriter Association) Athlete of the Year awardee.
But while Delasin, a former two-time national team player and four-time winner on the LPGA Tour, ended her two-year drought on the lucrative circuit, compatriot and former RP squad teammate Jennifer Rosales failed to strike it big despite contending for the crown a number of times.
Rosales finished in 32nd place with earnings of $366,564 in a year fans back home considered as a heartbreak season for the five-time RP Ladies Open, who had six top 10 finishes in 20 tournaments.