[PHOTO: Courtesy of Epson Tour]
There is no longer an instant ‘Battlefield Promotion’, but Gabi Ruffels has guaranteed her promotion to the LPGA Tour in 2024 with a third win of the season at the Epson Tour’s Four Winds Invitational in South Bend, Indiana.
A second round of seven-under 65 gave Ruffels a two-stroke advantage heading into the final round and despite a bogey at her second hole – her first and only bogey of the tournament – she was never headed.
For the third time this season, Ruffels turned a 36-hole lead into a victory, closing with a round of three-under 69 to win by three from American pair Katherine Smith (69) and Becca Huffer (70).
“It was kind of a weird round today,” Ruffels explained. “I started off two ahead, and then we got called off due to weather on the first green. I had like a four-foot birdie putt that I had to sit…