Purdue settles for third behind dominant Southern Cal

   With only 18 days to go until the 2013 U.S. Open tees off at Merion Golf Club’s East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township on this Memorial Day weekend Sunday, a quick look back at the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

   At the NCAA West Regional, it took a miracle – a school-record 63 by freshman Kyung Kim – for Southern Cal to edge Big Ten co-champ Purdue by a shot for the team title.

   Apparently, the Trojans took it as a wakeup call. Firing a ridiculous 12-under 276 team score in the second round, Southern Cal took control of the NCAA Tournament that concluded Friday on its way to a 19-under 1,133 total that bested the field by 21 shots. The 276 was a course record at the 6,372-yard, par-72 University of Georgia Golf Course and an NCAA Tournament record.

   The Trojans were led by their two talented freshmen, eventual NCAA champion Annie Park and Kim. They were particularly strong in that record-setting second round as Park fired a 5-under 67 and Kim posted a 3-under 69.

   Park added an opening-round 70 and rounds of 70 and 71 in the third and fourth rounds, respectively for a 10-under 278 total that gave her a six-shot victory over Duke’s Lindy Duncan.  Park became just the seventh freshman in NCAA history to win the individual title, a list that includes that Annika Sorenstam.

   Southern Cal opened with a 284, pulled away with the second-round 276, then cooled off a little with a third-round 285 and a final-round 288 to finish 21 shots ahead of Duncan and Duke at 2-over 1,154. The Blue Devils went 286, 289, 287 and 292.

   With the team title out of reach, Purdue grinded out a third-place finish behind a third in the individual race for senior Paula Reto and a really strong tie for 15^th from sophomore Aurora Kan, the three-time Daily Times Player of the Year at Chichester.

   Purdue opened with back-to-back 289s in the first two rounds, posted a 295 in the third round and put up a 300 in the final round for a 1,173 total that was one shot better than UCLA, eight shots clear of Arizona St. and 10 shots ahead of Auburn. The Boilermakers were a whopping 40 shots behind Southern Cal and 19 behind Duke, but third place was there for the taking and they grabbed it.

   Reto, the native of Cape Town, South Africa, had rounds of 71, 73, 70 and 72 to finish alone in third place at 2-under 286 and cap a great career at Purdue.

   “I’m pretty excited and very pleased with my team and myself,” Reto told the Purdue website. “I think we played pretty solid for the most part. Here and there I had some up-and-down holes, but  I think I did a good job of playing well. I just tried to be patient out there and that’s what kept me going.”

    Kan, the 2010 PIAA and Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, completed a sophomore campaign during which she made huge strides. She opened the NCAA Tournament with back-to-back subpar rounds, a pair of 1-under 71s. She faltered a little with a 77 in the third round before finishing up with a 1-over 73 that left her at 4-over 292 and a in a tie for 15^th. That’s a tie for 15^th in an incredibly deep and talented NCAA Tournament field while trying to do the best she could to help the Boilermakers have the highest possible team finish.

   Another senior, Lauren Gonzalez-Escallon, a native of Belgium, had rounds of 72, 73, 72 and 77 to finish in a tie for 23^rd. But typical of a senior, Gonzalez-Escallon was at her best when third place in  the team standings were on the line for the Boilermakers. She birdied the last two holes to give Purdue its one-shot edge on UCLA for third.

   Also for Purdue, redshirt senior Kishi Sinha, a native of India, had rounds of 75,73, 77 and 79 for a 304 total that left her in a tie for 68^th and freshman Margaux Vanmol, like Gonzalez-Escallon a Belgian, had rounds of 80, 72,76 and 78 for a 306 total that left her in a tie for 80^th.

   All in all, a pretty nice 2012-13 campaign for Devon Brouse’s Purdue program.

   Purdue made its 14^th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and recorded its eighth straight top-10 finish on the big stage. Purdue had an individual finish third for the third year in row and Gonzalez-Escallon and Reto played in the final group for the fourth year in a row.