Mirabel Ting Wins, Secures LPGA Card for 2027
Mirabel Ting outlasted Rachel Kuehn in a one-hole sudden-death playoff to win the inaugural Smoky Mountain Championship presented by Food City at Green Meadow Country Club, capturing her first Epson Tour title. Both players closed regulation at 15-under 201 after matching pressure pars on the 72nd hole, forcing extra golf.
On the playoff hole, Ting’s tee shot clipped a tree but caught a fortunate bounce back into the fairway. “The moment I snapped my drive and it hit the tree, I’m like, oh, that doesn’t look good, but the ball came out on the fairway. I was lucky,” Ting said.
From 155 yards, she leaned on her sister and full-time caddie, Michelle, to talk her out of an 8-iron. “I wanted to pull out an eight at first, and my sister looked at me, and she’s like, I don’t think you can get there with an eight,” Ting said. “So I committed with a seven, and I stuck it like three feet.” She calmly rolled in the winning birdie putt to clinch the title.
The win capped an emotional rookie season for Ting, who has leaned on Michelle both as her caddie and, she said, as someone who has helped her learn to accept guidance since her father passed away. “I’ve been independent since my dad passed,” Ting said. “I took a step back, knowing that she’s here to help, she’s not here to harm. She’s here to help me and guide me through.”
Asked what she wanted to say to her father, she paused before answering: “I think he’s proud. It’s been tough without him, but I think he’d tell me the same thing — you’re not a winner anymore, get out there and practice and work hard and hopefully be on LPGA next year.”
Ting closed regulation with a 5-under 67, highlighted by two front-nine birdies and four more coming home, while Kuehn matched her with her own 5-under 67, born out of two front-nine birdies and three more on the back.
Kuehn, who played the week close to home and to her mother — a longtime Carolinas golf standout — said the week meant something regardless of the outcome. “It was just really nice being kind of close to home and having my family here,” Kuehn said. “They don’t really travel all that much anymore, so it was going to be a special week regardless.”
Kuehn pointed to a birdie on 16 and a pressure four-footer on 18 as proof her game is trending the right way: “Being able to take confidence in all the work that I’m putting in and hit some really good golf shots under pressure — hopefully it keeps the momentum going the next couple of weeks on the road.”
Kuehn stayed on the green to watch Ting collect the trophy after the playoff, a gesture she didn’t think twice about. “I think everyone deserves to have their moment, and this is her moment,” Kuehn said. “I was definitely bummed with the playoff, but hats off — she hit it to three feet, so there’s nothing I can do about a birdie.”
Daniela Iacobelli, Lauren Gomez and Anne Chen share third at 13-under 203. Iacobelli set the clubhouse target in the morning wave with a 6-under 66, and leaned on a hot putter to get there. “I one-putted the first six holes,” she said. “The putter was hot.” At 38 years old, she called the result a reminder that “your 38-year-old self still can put some of these 22-year-olds away.”
Elsewhere in the field, LCAP graduate Catherine Park carded a bogey-free round highlighted by a birdie on the 18th hole, putting her in position for another top-10 finish this season. She credited this afternoon’s weather delay with helping her reset. “Having the delay kind of just let me reset my mind and just take a break from being too far ahead of myself,” she said. “I was able to just get back into the moment.”
Ting’s win highlights a whirlwind rookie season that included a runner-up finish at the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship just weeks ago. The inaugural Smoky Mountain Championship is officially in the books, with Green Meadow Country Club crowning its first champion.
