Georgia, Texas Tech come out firing at Lady Puerto Rico Classic

   Georgia, ranked No. 4 by GolfWeek, and No. 26 Texas Tech came out firing Sunday as the Lady Puerto Rico Classic teed off at the Greg Norman-designed River Course at Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

   The Lady Puerto Rico Classic, hosted by Purdue, is one of the first big women’s tournaments of the spring campaign with the 16-team field featuring eight of GolfWeek’s top 30 teams.

   Texas Tech’s Gabby Barker, a sophomore from Caldwell, Idaho, lit up the River Course to the tune of a 6-under-par 66 to help the Red Raiders post a 5-under 283 total. Not to be outdone, Georgia got a 4-under 68 from Bailey Tardy, a sophomore from Peachtree Corners, Ga., a 3-under 69 from Harrang Lee, a junior from Spain, and a 2-under 70 from Manuela Carbajo Re, a senior from Argentina, as the Bulldogs matched Tech’s 5-under 283 total.

   That left Tardy, Lee and Carbajo Re in third-, fourth- and fifth-place, respectively, in the individual standings.

   N.C. State’s Rachael Taylor, a senior from Scotland, is alone in second place in the individual standings after a sparkling 4-under 67. She helped the 30^th-ranked Wolfpack to a 2-over 290 total that left them in a tie for fourth in the team standings with No. 5 Northwestern.

   Arkansas, which lost 2015 NCAA individual runnerup Gabriela Lopez to the LPGA Tour during the break between the fall and spring portions of the schedule, got right back to work. The eighth-ranked Razorbacks are alone in third place at 1-over 289, one shot ahead of N.C. State and Northwestern and six shots back of the co-leaders.

   Host Purdue, ranked 20^th  by GolfWeek, got off to a slow start and is tied for 11^th at 304. The Boilermakers were led by August Kim, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla., and Linn Andersson, a sophomore from Sweden, both of whom came at 2-over 74.

   The Boilers also got a promising debut from Covadonga Sanjuan of Spain. Competing as an individual, Sanjuan carded a solid 3-over 75.