Angela Stanford Falls Short in Bid to Win for Her Mom

Angela Stanford's mother is going through some tough times.  Like Phil Mickelson's wife and mom, Angela's mom Nan is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.  It has taken a serious toll on Angela. 

Fortunately, Angela has been able to have the company of her mother at tournaments to offer support.  Her mom drove up from Texas to watch Angela compete in the Solheim Cup.  This weekend, she came to Arkansas to watch her daughter compete in the P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship.

Due in part to a final round of +1 by 36 hole leader Song-Hee Kim, Angela had an opportunity to capture the title for her mom.  Angela played well enough on Sunday to get into a three-way playoff with Sun Young Yoo and Jiyai Shin.  On the second playoff hole, Shin drained a birdie putt to defeat Kim and Stanford for her third win of the season.

Stanford said she gave away opportunities to win the tournament in regulation.  "I'm upset because I had three three putts, when you look at it like that, I should have won," she said.

But, she remained upbeat about getting into the playoff.  "But then to fight back in the end to get into the playoff and give myself a chance, there is good and bad to it."  The fight back included an eagle on the final hole in regulation to get into the playoff in the first place.

When asked about the presence of her mom, Stanford put the entire situation into composed perspective.

"I'm not going to get many opportunities to win in front of my parents because they're both still working. I don't have them out every week.  So I was kind of thinking about that.  I'm like, this is a good chance, because I'm usually not in contention when they're around.  So I really wanted to do that."

Despite coming up short, Stanford was very appreciative to not only have her mom in her gallery, but fellow Solheim Cup teammates Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome, and Morgan Pressel - who drove Nan Stanford around the course during the playoff.

"I would say we're very fortunate because if one of us is playing well, you know, we're happy for them. That's when you know you've got good friends out here."