Meaghan Francella (born May 12, 1982) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

currently playing on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

Early life and amateur career

Francella was born in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...

and was twice the New York State Junior Champion. She attended high school at the School of the Holy Child in

Rye, New York Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. It received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the most recent such charter in the state. Its area of ...

. After high school, she attended the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

, where she was named

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

Freshman of the Year in 2001. Francella transferred to the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

for her junior year. While at North Carolina she was the 2003

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

individual champion and was an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

First-Team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 2004. Francella graduated with a degree in communications in 2005.

Professional career

After completing her college eligibility in 2004, Francella joined the

Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

. She finished 65th at the 2005 LPGA Qualifying School to earn non-exempt status for the 2006 season. In 2006, she made three starts on the LPGA Tour, making one cut. On the

, she won one event, the Lakeland Duramed FUTURES Classic, and recorded six additional top-10 finishes. She ended the season fifth on the Futures Tour money list which earned her fully exempt status on the LPGA Tour for 2007. Francella's first win on the LPGA Tour came in her second start of 2007 at the

MasterCard Classic The MasterCard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta was a golf tournament for professional female golfers, played on the LPGA Tour. It was played each year between 2005 and 2009 at Bosque Real Country Club in Mexico City, Mexico. Winners * Championsh ...

, where she scored 68-68-69 with only two bogies over the three-round tournament and then held off world number one

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 96 international p ...

in a four-hole playoff.

Professional wins (3)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Futures Tour wins (1)

*2006 (1) Lakeland Duramed Futures Classic

Other wins (1)

*2010 (1) HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup (unofficial event on the LPGA Tour)

Results in LPGA majors

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013. CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

LPGA Tour career summary

* Official through November 24, 2013 * Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

References

External links

*
Meaghan Francella official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francella, Meaghan American female golfers Memphis Tigers women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers North Carolina Tar Heels women's golfers Sportspeople from Port Chester, New York Golfers from Westchester County, New York 1982 births Living people