Aurora Kan, a three-time Daily
Times Player of the Year and the 2010 PIAA champion while at Chichester,
got the spring portion of her junior season at Purdue off to a good start this
week.
The Boilermakers left our endless winter behind and hosted
the annual Lady Puerto Rico Classic at the Rio Mar Country Club’s River Course
in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Kan fired her career-best round at Purdue, a 4-under 68 over
the 5,826-yard, par-72 River Course layout, in the second round of the 54-hole
event to take a two-shot in the individual chase into the final round.
Alabama’s Stephanie Meadow, the No. 2 ranked individual in NCAA Division I by GolfWeek, caught and passed Kan as Meadow’s
second straight 68 left her at 4-under 211.
But Kan fought back and a birdie at the final hole enabled
her to share medalist honors with Meadow. That putt gave Kan a final-round of
even-par 72 as she matched Meadow’s 211 total. Kan opened the tournament with a
1-under 71 on her way to a career-best 54-hole total.
It was the second career victory for Kan, who captured the
Butler Fall Invitational last fall, but that was a 36-hole event and the Lady
Puerto Rico had a field that included six of the top-25 teams in the country.
Kan’s victory also earned her a co-Big Ten Player of the Week honor.
Kan also helped the Boilermakers finish in a tie for sixth
in the team standings at 893. Purdue got off to a rough start with an
opening-round 306, but led by Kan’s career-best 68 in the second round, the
Boilermakers improved 15 shots to 291. A final-round 296 left Purdue tied with
Alabama and N.C. State for sixth.
Arkansas, led by Gaby Lopez (73-8-73—214), who finished
third, and Emma Lavy (73-68-75—216), who finished tied for fourth, won the team
title with rounds of 288, 283 and 296 for an 867 total. That was 14 shots clear
of runnerup Georgia Regents University Augusta.
Kan is the leader of a young group of Boilermakers, but they
certainly showed some potential in Puerto Rico. Freshman August Kim fired a
final round of 1-over 73, a career best, to finish in a tie for 34th
at 227. She was joined at that figure by Anna Appert Lund, a sophomore transfer
from Morehead State. Lund, a Swede, also saved her best round for last, a
3-over 75 in the final round.
Junior Johanna Tillstrom, another Swede, finished in a tie
for 59th at 233, two shots ahead of sophomore Brooke Beegle, who was
in a tie for 63rd at 235. Beegle bounced back from an opening-round
86 with solid rounds of 73 and 76. And Ashley Yarbrough, a freshman transfer
from Coastal Carolina, competed as an individual and started off with rounds of
74 and 73 before faltering a little in the final round with an 83. Still, her
230 total left her in a tie for 46th.
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