Kendall Dye fires eight under 64 to win Four Winds Invitational

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Coming into Sunday's final round, Kendall Dye trailed the leader by six shots.

By the end, the Oklahoma native had shot an eight under 64 to run away with the Four Winds Invitational Title.

“I came out here with a mission,” explained Dye. “I had two hole-in-ones on this course and a double eagle so what more is there to do on this golf course than win. I’ve been playing really good golf and it was only a matter of time.”

Dye joked in her winner’s speech that she was going to bury her ashes one day under Blackthorn because of how successful she has been. 

Dye made birdies on holes three and six and then made four birdies in a row between eight and 11 to get to 9-under. While Dye was catching fire, the leaders began to fall back to the field. Elizabeth Szokol, who entered the day with a three-shot lead, lost a ball on 10 and made a double-bogey

“I had a sense of calm all day today, it was Jesus, I couldn’t believe it,” said Dye. “I had a mission of making 18 birdies this week - six a day - and I came up one short. I knew I needed to buckle down and find a few more birdies down the stretch.”

Dye said that her caddy, Billy Prentice, told her to snuggle her 30-foot birdie putt close with the big lead on 18, but she had other ideas.

“I said ‘heck no, I’m going to make it’,” explained Dye. “I’m glad I capped off the day with a great putt.”

Dye made a critical 8-foot par putt on 13 and a 6-foot par putt on 14. She attempted just 24 putts on the round.

“I’ve been putting well for two weeks and I actually had a ten minute putting lesson back in April with my head pro in Tampa at Avila Golf and Country Club (Chris Slattery),” said Dye, who left Sarasota to go to the putting lesson after missing the cut. “It’s an old Ping B60 putter that came straight from Angela Stanford’s garage.”