August Kim, the reigning Big Ten champion, continued her
rock solid play of late, but her Purdue teammates struggled in the final round
as the Boilermakers saw Kent State sneak past them for a one-shot victory in
the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate, which concluded Tuesday at Pinetree
Country Club in Kennesaw, Ga.
Kim, a senior from St. Augustine, Fla., was the model of
consistency in banging out three straight 1-under-par rounds of 71 over the
6,032-yard, par-72 Pinetree layout, two in Monday’s double round and one more
Tuesday. Kim’s 3-under 213 total earned her a share of the individual title
with Kent State’s Pimnipa Panthong, a
freshman from Thailand.
Panthong opened the tournament with a bang, carding a
5-under 67 before a pair of 1-over 73s left her with a 213 total. Kim’s three
straight sub-par rounds gave her six straight rounds of par or better.
Purdue, No. 23 in the latest Golfstat rankings, had a three-shot lead heading into the final
round after opening up with a 1-over 289 and adding a solid 2-under 286 in the
middle round. No. 14 Kent State was six shots behind the Boilers after opening
with a 3-under 285 and posting a 296 in the middle round.
But Purdue, coming off a team win in the 3M Augusta
Invitational a week earlier, also in Georgia, couldn’t sustain its momentum.
The Boilermakers slipped to a final-round 302 to finish at 13-over 877 while
the Golden Flashes posted a 7-over 295 that gave them a 12-over 876 total and a
one-shot edge on Purdue.
No. 36 Texas Tech was another shot behind Purdue in third at
14-over 878 after matching par with a 288 in the final round. No. 27 Illinois
took fourth at 21-over 885 after a final-round 206. No. 44 Augusta was fifth at
23-over 887 after a final-round 293.
No. 70 Memphis trailed Purdue by just three shots after
firing a 5-under 283 in the second round, but fell back with a final-round 313
to share sixth place with No. 59 Maryland. The Terrapins had the best team
round of the tournament, a 7-under 281, in the middle round before struggling
home with a 309 in the final round.
Kent State got another top-10 finish from Wad Phaewchimpiee,
a senior from Thailand who has been a standout for the Golden Flashes for four
years. Phaewchimpiee had a final-round 76 to finish in a tie for eighth at
2-over 218.
Michaela Finn, a sophomore from Sweden, had a huge even-par
72 in the final round that was probably the difference for Kent State. It
enabled her to finish in a tie for 23rd at 223. She was joined at
that figure by Karoline Stormo, a freshman from Norway whose final-round 74 was
also a key return for the Golden Flashes.
Rounding out the Kent State effort was freshman Marissa
Kirkwood, a product of Neshannock High from Newcastle, Pa. who finished 79th
at 240 after a final-round 84.
Also for Purdue, Covadonga SanJuan, a sophomore from Spain,
finished in a tie for 12th at 4-over 220. But SanJuan followed up an
outstanding 3-under 69 in the second round with a final-round 79 that the
Boilermakers tossed.
Three other Boilermakers all carded a 77 in the final round.
Micaela Farah, a freshman from Peru, finished in a tie for 14th at
221, Marta Martin, a junior from Spain, finished in a tie for 41st
at 227 and Linn Andersson, a junior from Sweden, finished tied for 44th
at 228.
The individual champion from the 3M Augusta Invitational was
also in the field at the Henssler Financial and Augusta’s Jessica Haigwood, a
senior from Roswell, Ga., put together another strong showing in finishing a
shot behind Kim and Panthong in third at 2-under 214. After matching par in both
trips around Pinetree Monday, Haigwood posted a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s final
round.
Troy’s Fatima Fernandez Cano, a senior from Spain, and Texas Tech’s Sofia Garcia, a freshman
from Paraguay, finished in a tie for fourth at 1-under 215. Cano moved into
contention with a 4-under 68 in the second round before finishing up with a
1-over 73 while Garcia opened up with a 68 and carded a 2-under 70 in the final
round around a 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round.
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