Individual champion Chun leads Michigan to its first Big Ten team title at Fox Chapel

    Jan Dowling’s Michigan Wolverines have been knocking on the door in the Big Ten Championship.

   A couple of Sundays ago on the classic Seth Raynor design at Fox Chapel Golf Club in suburban Pittsburgh, Michigan busted the door down, putting together a solid 7-over-par 291 in the final round to hold off in-state rival Michigan State by four shots and claim the first Big Ten team crown in the history of the program.

   The Wolverines, at No. 18 the only Big Ten team in the Golfstat top 25, also had the individual champion as Monet Chun, a sophomore from Canada, cruised to a four-shot victory to earn her first career individual crown.

   Michigan trailed defending champion Michigan State by three shots following the opening round as the Wolverines posted a 1-over 285 while the Spartans opened with a 2-under 282.

   But Michigan, behind a brilliant 5-under 66 by Chun over the 6,045-yard, par-71 Fox Chapel layout, matched the low team round of the week, a 3-under 281, in the second round to take a four-shot lead into the final round.

   Michigan’s final round of 291 gave it 5-over 857 total. Michigan State, which moved up from No. 34 to No. 30 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Big Ten Championship, had added a 4-over 288 to its opening-round 282 in the second round. The Spartans matched Michigan’s final round of 7-over 291 to finish four shots behind the Wolverines with a 9-over 861 total.

   Chun opened with a 1-under 70 before going off with her six-birdie, one-bogey 5-under 66 in the second round that gave her a two-shot lead heading into the final round. She then closed with a rock-solid 2-under 69 that gave her an 8-under 205 total.

   Michigan will get to play on its home course as the Wolverines were seeded third in the Ann Arbor Regional, which tees off Monday. Michigan State will travel to Oklahoma as the No. 5 seed in the Stillwater Regional.

   A couple of perennial Big Ten powers, No. 53 Ohio State and Northwestern, which dropped a spot from No. 37 to No. 36 in the Golfstat rankings following its showing at Fox Chapel, finished in a tie for third place, each landing three shots behind Michigan State with a 12-over 864 total.

   The Buckeyes, behind a solid runnerup finish by Faith Choi, a freshman from Frederick, Md., added a 288 in the second round to their opening-round 289 before closing with the best round of the final day, a 3-over 287.

   After matching par in the first two rounds with back-to-back 71s, Choi closed with the best individual round of the final day, a 4-under 67 that left her four shots behind Chun with a 4-under 209 total.

   In her first year as the head coach at her alma mater, Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, guided Ohio State to an NCAA regional berth as the Buckeyes will join Michigan in Ann Arbor as a nine seed.

   After opening with 289, Northwestern matched the low team round of the week in the second round with a 3-under 281 before finishing up with a 10-over 294. The Wildcats will head west where they will be seeded seventh in the Stanford Regional.

   No. 26 Illinois matched par in the second round with a 284 after opening with a 289 before closing with a 298 as the Fighting Illini finished six shots behind Ohio State and Northwestern in fifth place with an 18-over 870 total. Illinois will be seeded fifth in the Tallahassee Regional.

   Maryland finished three shots behind Illinois in sixth place as the Terrapins added a 289 in the second round to their opening round of 4-over 288 before closing with a 296 for a 21-over 873 total.

   Penn State got off to a slow start with an opening-round 304, but got a little better as the weekend wore on, adding a 296 in the second round before closing with an 8-over 292 that left the No. 93 Nittany Lions alone in 10^th place with a 40-over 892 total.

   Backing up Chun for Michigan in the six-score-four format was Mikaela Schulz, a junior from West Bloomfield, Mich. who sandwiched a 74 in the second round with a pair of 2-over 73s to finish among the group tied for 17^th place with a 7-over 220 total.

   Ashley Lau, a senior from Malaysia, and Hailey Borja, a junior from Lake Forest, Calif., both landed among the group tied for 30^th place, each landing on 9-over 222. Lau added a solid 1-under 70 to her opening-round 75 before closing with a 77. After struggling to a 79 in the opening round, Borja matched par in the second round with a 71 before closing with a 1-over 72.

   Rounding out the Michigan lineup were a pair of players, Sophia Trombetta, a senior from Independence, Ohio, and Ashley Kim, a graduate student from Redondo Beach, Calif., both of whom ended up in the group tied for 48^th place with a 227 total.

   Trombetta contributed a 1-under 70 to Michigan’s strong start before adding a 78 in the second round and finishing up with a 79. Kim also got off to a good start with a 1-over 72 before cooling off with a 78 in the second round and a closing 77.

   Northwestern’s Jennifer Cai, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif., trailed Chun by three shots in the individual chase going into the final round after she added a 3-under 68 to her opening round of even-par 71. Cai closed with a 1-over 72 to finish alone in third place with a 2-under 211 total.

   Nebraska’s Kirsten Baete, a senior from Beatrice, Neb., was the only other player to finish under par for the weekend as she closed with a solid 3-under 68 to end up in fourth place, a shot behind Cai with a 1-under 212 total. Baete matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a 2-over 73 in the second round.

   Maryland’s Maria Vittoria Corbi, a junior from Italy, opened with a 2-under 69 and matched par in the second round with a 71 before closing with a 3-over 74 to finish alone in fifth place with a 1-over 214 total.

   Vittoria Corbi’s Maryland teammate, Patrice Mackova, a sophomore from the Czech Republic, was part of a group of five players that finished in a tie for sixth place at 2-over 215. Mackova opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 3-over 74 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Although the Terrapins did not receive a regional bid, they will be represented by Mackova, playing as an individual, in the Albuquerque Regional.

   Illinois’ Crystal Wang, a senior from Diamond Bar, Calif., was Chun’s closest pursuer through two rounds as she matched Chun’s 6-under 66 in the second round after opening with a 1-over 72. Wang backed off with a final round of 6-over 77 to join the group tied for sixth place at 2-over.

   Rounding out the quintet tied for sixth place at 215 were Wisconsin’s Emily Lauterbach, a junior from Hartland, Kan., Cai’s Northwestern teammate Lauryn Nguyen, a freshman from Seattle, and Michigan State’s Leila Raines, a sophomore Galena, Ohio.

   Lauterbach got off to a good start with a 2-under 69 in the opening round and matched par in the second round before finishing up with a 3-over 74. Nguyen added a 1-under 70 to her opening-round 74 before matching par in the final round with a 71. Raines started strong with a 3-under 68 before cooling off with a 74 in the second round and a final round of 2-over 73.

   Leading the way for Penn State was Drew Nienhaus of St. Louis, who capped a solid freshman season by finishing among the group tied for 33^rd place with a 10-over 223 total. Nienhaus bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 74 in the second round before finishing up with a solid 1-over 72.

   Mathilde Delavallade, a junior from France, sandwiched a 3-over 74 in the second round with a pair of 75s as she finished in the group tied for 36^th place with a 224 total.

   Redshirt junior Taylor Waller, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2016 as a junior at Canon-McMillan, and another freshman, Katie Scheck of Greensboro, Ga., both landed among the group tied for 48^th place, each signing for a 227 total for the Nittany Lions.

   Waller sandwiched a 2-over 73 in the second round with a pair of 77s. Scheck carded back-to-back 4-over 75s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 77.

   After struggling for two rounds, Sarah Willis, a senior from Eaton, Ohio, finally figured out the speed of the tricky Fox Chapel greens and closed with a 2-under 69 that left her in a tie for 53^rd place with a 228 total. Willis had opened with an 81 before adding a 78 in the second round.

   Isha Dhruva, a junior from Katy, Texas, rounded out the Penn State lineup as she finished in a tie for 75^th place with a 237 total. Dhruva opened with a 79 and added an 82 in the second round before closing with her best round of the week, a 5-over 76.