Malaysia’s Alyaa Abdulghany chalked up her best result on the Epson Tour with a joint second place finish in the USD200,000 Inova Mission Inn Resort & Club Championship in Florida.

Alyaa carded rounds of 72, 71 and 68 for an eight-under-par 211 total at Mission Inn’s par-73 El Campeón Championship Course. She nailed five birdies in a flawless closing round to share runner-up honours with Lindy Duncan of the United States, two shots behind Jiwon Jeon of South Korea who claimed her maiden Epson Tour title.

"I was just trying to push myself today," said the 24-year-old. "I know I can make some putts and hit some good shots, I just had to stick with my plan and take advantage of what I had. It is a tough course, the stretch of 4, 5, and 6 is a really hard stretch on the front nine and the back nine is tight. So, I am happy with how I played.”

This was Alyaa’s third top-10 in six starts this year and marked a welcome return to form following a missed cut in last week’s IOA Golf Classic presented by LPT Realty. The 24-year-old pocketed a cheque for USD16,273 to climb up to 11th place on the Epson Tour’s Race For The Card standings with USD33,320 in season winnings.

One shot adrift in fourth position was Roberta Liti on seven-under-par 212, while Min A Yoon and Haylee Harford finished T5 on six-under par 213.

Compatriot Natasha Oon bounced back after missing the cut at last week’s IOA Golf Classic presented by LPT Realty with a fifth top-10 finish for the season. Carding in rounds of 71, 72 and 71, Oon’s T7 finish this week on five-under par 214 keeps her in second position on the Race For The Card season standings.

Another Malaysian in the field, Ashley Lau, failed to advance to the final around of the Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship after signing in scores of 78 and 81.

Alyaa will be skipping this week’s Champions Fore Change Invitational in North Carolina and will head west to California to prepare for the U.S. Women’s Open Qualifying Tournament at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in San Diego on June 5. She qualified for last year’s U.S. Women’s Open but missed the cut at Pine Needles in North Carolina.

The 78th U.S. Women’s Open will be held at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links in California on July 6-9.

Results (Top 10 & ties)
209 (-10) - Jiwon Jeon 66-73-70
211 (-8) – Alyaa Abdulghany 72-71-68, Lindy Duncan 73-67-71
212 (-7) – Roberta Liti 71-67-74
213 (-6) – Min A Yoon 71-67-74, Haylee Harford 70-72-71
214 (-5) – Nishtha Madan 75-71-68, Natasha Andrea Oon 71-72-71, Pinyada Kuvanun 72-70-72, Cydney Clanton 72-69-73