Epson Tour sophomore Erica Shepherd’s final round was nothing like she expected it. Sitting three shots behind the lead heading into Championship Sunday’s final round, the Indiana native felt some nerves while on the quest to claim the first victory of her young professional career.
“I actually am proud of myself. I do not know if I have ever said that before, but like I have said, it has been such a journey, and succeeding in pro golf has definitely not been easy for me,” said Shepherd.
The 24-year-old carded four birdies on the round to climb to the top of the leaderboard. The Duke University alumna found birdies on holes three and six, rounding the turn with a 2-under 34 on her front nine. Shepherd continued her birdie streak, sinking a putt on the par-5 14, followed by a clutch 7-foot birdie on 18 green in front of a crowd to secure her first professional win.
Shepherd expressed how her final putt felt, “Luckily, I have been in those positions before, but really not for quite some time. It was a little bit of a new feeling, but I did not really know that it was to win, but I knew that it was an important putt. I just had the same routine that I had all week and just trusted my gut with the read. It was just a good, hard putt, and I am glad that I made it.”
This win earned her 500 points in the Race for the Card rankings, jumping her 57 spots on the leaderboard as she now sits at No. 21. Shepherd has momentum and is looking forward to continuing her good play at Indian Wells in the last event of the 2025 Epson Tour season.
“It definitely does not feel real yet, but it has just been a crazy few years of pro golf. To finally have won an event and win it here, where the course is so hard, it means so much, but it definitely doesn’t feel real yet,” commented Shepherd.
Rachel Kuehn, Kaleigh Telfer, and Liqi Zeng put up a strong fight but came up just short in a tie for second. Kuehn started the round T16 and fired a 5-under 67, the lowest round of the 54-hole tournament. The Wake Forest University graduate made six birdies and one bogey on the day to climb the leaderboard, marking the third top-ten of her rookie season.
Kaleigh Telfer finished the tournament 3-under after a 4-under 68 final round, but it was not enough to walk away with the win at the end of regulation. The Auburn University alumna made four birdies on her back nine, posting a 32. Liqi Zeng had an up-and-down third round, finding five birdies, but also four bogeys to sign for a 1-under 71.
Four-time Epson Tour winner, Gina Kim, started the day one shot off the lead, looking for her fourth win of the 2025 Epson Tour season. Kim struggled during her round, making a quadruple bogey and a double bogey to offset the five birdies she made throughout the round. Kim finished in a tie for fifth and is eager for the last event of the season as she looks to earn Player of the Year honors at the conclusion of the Tour Championship.
Becca Huffer started the day in the lead, but ultimately finished T5. Huffer could not get things to fall her way on Sunday, signing for a 2-over 74 and a combined 2-under for the tournament. The Notre Dame now has two top-10s this season and is looking forward to carrying this great play into the final event with hopes of securing her first professional win.
Yana Wilson started the final round at 3-over par, sitting T25 before lighting it up on Championship Sunday. Wilson rounded the turn with a strong 1-under 35 on the front nine. The Las Vegas native did not stop there, making a birdie on hole 11 followed by the only hole-in-one of the week on the par-3 12th hole. The Epson Tour rookie finished in a tie for fifth and is looking forward to carrying her consistency into the final tournament of the season.
As the final event of the 2025 season approaches, the Epson Tour athletes take a week off to rest ahead of traveling out west to Indian Wells, California, for the biggest tournament of the season. The Tour Championship will take place at Indian Wells Golf Resort, Celebrity Course, from October 2-5.
Press release by: Epson Tour Communications
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