Behind Feagles, Illinois comes on strong to beat Vanderbilt by two shots for team crown in LSU Invitational

    In the Big Ten, there’s Illinois and there’s everybody else.

   The last time a Big Ten Championship was contested in April of 2019 at the A.W. Tillinghast gem that is Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, Mike Small’s Fighting Illini won their fifth straight team crown and ninth title in the past 10 years. The second round of that tournament was contested in basically a windstorm.

   Looks like the weather may have contributed to some high scores in the LSU Invitational, which concluded Sunday at The University Club in Baton Rouge, La. But Illinois, No. 6 in the latest Golfstat rankings, came from behind with a solid final round of 6-over 294 to hold off Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt, ranked 10^th, by two shots with a 12-over 876 total.

   The Big Ten wouldn’t allow its teams to compete in the fall, but Illinois was ready when the coronavirus-shortened 2020-2021 season finally got started. The victory in the LSU Invitational was the second straight for the Fighting Illini, who captured the team title earlier this month in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate at the Magnolia Grove Golf Club’s Crossings Course in Mobile, Ala.

   Illinois opened with a 5-over 293 in Friday’s first round over the 7,227-yard, par-72 University Club layout before adding a solid 1-over 289 in Saturday’s second round. That left the Fighting Illini three shots behind another SEC entry, No. 11 Florida, heading into Sunday’s final round. The Gators struggled to a 310 in the final round to fall back to fifth place.

   Vanderbilt, behind individual runnerup Matthew Riedel, a sophomore from Houston who closed with a 4-under-par 68, had opened with a 7-over 295 and added a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s second round that left the Commodores eight shots behind Florida and five behind Illinois. Vanderbilt closed with the best team round of the day, a 3-over 291, but couldn’t quite overtake Illinois, the Commodores finishing two shots behind the Fighting Illini at 14-over 878.

   It was another three shots back to another SEC entry as South Carolina outperformed its No. 71 ranking, the Gamecocks finishing in third place with a 17-over 881 total. After opening with a 10-over 298, South Carolina added solid rounds of 2-over 290 in Saturday’s second round and 5-over 293 in Sunday’s final round.

   No. 42 Arkansas State seemed unfazed by all the SEC teams in the field as the Sun Belt Conference’s Red Wolves were right in the mix in a tie for third place with Vanderbilt after adding a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s second round to their opening-round 295. Arkansas State struggled a little in Sunday’s final round, finishing six shots behind South Carolina in fourth place at 23-over 887.

   After opening with a 10-over 298, Florida unfurled the best team round of the weekend, a 7-under 281 in Saturday’s second round, to take the team lead into Sunday’s final round. The Gators’ final-round 310 left them two shots behind Arkansas State in fifth place at 25-over 889.

   No. 17 Auburn, out of the SEC, was two shots behind Florida in sixth place at 27-over 891 as the Tigers bounced back from an opening-round 303 by carding a 7-over 295 in Saturday’s second round and a solid 5-over 293 in Sunday’s final round.

   No. 22 Tennessee, another SEC entry, was a shot behind Auburn in seventh place in the 15-team field as the Volunteers opened with a solid 6-over 294 before falling back a little with a 10-over 298 in Saturday’s second round and closing with a final-round 300 that left them with a 28-ovoer 892 total.

   Illinois was led by one of its two graduate students, Michael Feagles of Scottsdale, Ariz. as he was one of three players who finished in a tie for fourth place with a 2-over 218 total. After opening with a 75, Feagles carded a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a junior from Belgium who was the co-medalist in the Big Ten Championship at the Cricket Club two years ago, finished a shot behind Feagles in a group of six players tied for seventh place at 3-over 219. Dumont de Chassart struggled in the opening round with a 76, but was the Illinois medalist in the second round with a 3-under 69 before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Only one player broke 70 in Friday’s opening round and that was Illinois’ Jerry Ji, a sophomore from the Netherlands who fired a 3-under 69. He struggled to a 79 in the second round, but closed with a 1-over 73 to land among the group tied for 15^th place at 5-over 221.

   Illinois’ other graduate student, Giovanni Tadiotto of Belgium and Tommy Kuhl, a junior from Morton, Ill., rounded out the Fighting Illini’s lineup as both landed in the group tied for 33^rd place at 8-over 224. Tadiotto sandwiched a second-round 74 with a pair of 75s while Kuhl added a pair of 75s to his opening round of 2-over 74.

   Feagles, Tadiotto and Dumont de Chassart were all in the Illinois lineup in the Big Ten Championship at the Cricket Club two springs ago. Looks like Feagles and Tadiotto accepted the NCAA’s offer of an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring of their senior year that was stolen by the pandemic.

   Nobody mastered the difficult conditions at The University Club better than Mississippi’s Jackson Suber, a junior from Tampa, Fla. who sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 71s to capture the individual title with a 5-under 211 total.

   It was the second straight individual victory for Suber, who was the medalist in Ole Miss’ last start in November in the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate at Old Overton Golf Club in Vestavia Hills, Ala. Suber was the only player in the field at The University Club to better par in all three rounds.

   Vanderbilt’s Riedel battled back from an opening-round 76 by registering a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round before closing with that 4-under 68 that left him three shots behind Suber in second place at 2-under 214. Riedel was the only other player beside Suber to finish under par for three rounds.

   Alabama’s Wilson Furr, a senior from Jackson, Miss., also struggled in the opening round with a 79, but was strong the rest of the weekend, firing a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round and closing with a 4-under 68 to finish alone in third place with an even-par 216 total.

   Furr put his considerable talent on display in qualifying for match play in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes as he earned medalist honors, a brilliant 9-under 62 at the Bandon Trails course at the rugged Oregon resort in the second round giving him an 11-under 132 total.

   Joining Illinois’ Feagles in the three-way tie for fourth place at 2-over 218 were Missouri’s Ross Streelman, a redshirt sophomore from Columbia, Mo., and South Carolina’s Ryan Hall, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn. Streelman moved up the leaderboard by closing with a 3-under 69. Hall added a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 73 and trailed Suber by just a shot in the race for individual honors going into Sunday’s final round before cooling off with a 77.

   Five players joined Illinois’ Dumont de Chassart in the tie for seventh place at 3-over 219, including a pair of Arkansas State players, Luka Naglic, a sophomore from Slovenia, and Julien Sale, a senior from France. Naglic was solid throughout, matching par in the opening round with a 72 and adding a 74 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 73. Sale matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 73 and he finished up with a 1-over 73.

   It was a disappointing weekend for No. 12 Georgia, which finished in 10^th place with a 35-over 899 total, but Travis Phillips, a junior from Inman, S.C. and No. 44 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), did earn a top-10 finish as he was part of the group tied for seventh place at 219. Phillips added a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round after opening with a 73 before falling back with a final-round 77.

   Rounding out the large group at 3-over were Mississippi State’s Ford Clegg, a junior from Birmingham, Ala., and Auburn’s Graysen Huff, a senior from Eagle, Idaho. After opening with a 77, Clegg bounced back with a 2-under 70 before matching par in the final round with a 72. Huff matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 74 and finished up with a 1-over 73.

   To give you an idea how competitive these college golf tournaments are, Georgia’s Davis Thompson, a senior from Auburn, Ala., rose to the No. 1 spot in the WAGR in the last couple of weeks.

   Thompson closed with his best round of the weekend, a 1-over 73, to finish among the group tied for 24^th place at 7-over 223. Thompson’s lofty ranking has already earned him an automatic berth on the U.S. Walker Cup team that will battle a side from Great Britain & Ireland in May at iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baylor claims fifth straight team victory in ICON Invitational, Oklahoma State's Tatematsu captures individual crown

   Baylor ran its tournament win streak to a Big 12 record five straight and solidified its grip on the No. 1 ranking by Golfstat with a five-shot victory over LSU in the ICON Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble, Texas

   Pretty remarkable that the weather situation had recovered enough that the same Houston area that was hit with freezing temperatures and rolling blackouts just last week was able to recover sufficiently to be the scene of a big-time college women’s golf tournament, but that’s what happened.

   And Jay Gable’s kids from Waco, who, I’m guessing, were limited to indoor golf simulators last week, didn’t skip a beat. The Bears were a little slow out of the gate with a 2-under 286 over the 6,247-yard, par-72 Golf Club of Houston layout in the first round of Monday’s double round, but they quickly recovered to fire a 10-under 278 in Monday afternoon’s second round to catch No. 4 LSU, out of the Southeastern Conference, heading into Tuesday’s final round.

   Baylor put the pedal to the metal with the best team round of the tournament, a 12-under 276, in Tuesday’s final round to keep the Bayou Tigers at arm’s length with a 24-under 840 total. LSU had led Baylor by three shots after opening with a 5-under 283 Monday morning before adding a 7-under 281 Monday afternoon to share the top spot with the Bears at 12-under 564 at the end of the double round.

   LSU closed with another solid 7-under 281 in Tuesday’s final round, but it wasn’t enough as the Bayou Tigers finished with a 19-under 845 total.

   No. 9 Oklahoma State was another nine shots behind LSU in third place with a 10-under 854 total, but the Cowgirls would have been closer to the top of the leaderboard if head coach Greg Robertson had inserted freshman Rina Tatematsu of Thailand into the starting lineup instead of having her compete as an individual.

   Robertson is in his second season as head coach at his alma mater after turning Kent State into a perennial national power. Robertson tapped into a Thailand pipeline that brought a parade of talented players to Kent State to lure Tatematsu to Stillwater, Okla. And the ICON Invitational was a coming-out party for Tatematsu, who has competed in a number of pro events on various Asian circuits.

   After opening with a 2-under 70, Tatematsu ripped off a pair of brilliant 6-under 66s to capture the individual title by three shots over host Houston’s Karen Fredgaard, a sophomore from Denmark, with a 14-under 202 total.

   Tatematsu had six birdies and no bogeys in Monday afternoon’s second round and seven birdies against a lone bogey in Tuesday’s final round. Tied with Fredgaard and LSU’s Ingrid Linblad, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 4 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) going into the final round, Tatematsu, who started her round on the 18^th hole, made back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes, went back-to-back again at five and six, birdied the 12^th, bogeyed the 13^th and went back-to-back one more time at 14 and 15.

   Robertson was able to bring Tatematsu along slowly as the Cowgirls played a fall schedule that was limited to largely individual-only events. I suspect Tatematsu’s name will be penciled into the Oklahoma State starting lineup after this bustout performance.

   It was a pretty strong showing for the starting five for Oklahoma State in the ICON, though. The Cowgirls matched LSU’s strong start with a 5-under 283 in Monday morning’s opening round and added a 1-under 287 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 4-under 284.

   No. 19 Texas Christian, another Big 12 entry, finished seven shots behind Oklahoma State in fourth place with a 3-under 861 total. After opening with a 3-under 285, the Horned Frogs matched par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 288s.

   Perennial Big Ten power Northwestern, ranked 17^th, was three more shots behind TCU in fifth place as the Wildcats matched par with an 864 total. Northwestern matched par in Monday morning’s opening round with a 288 and added a 2-over 290 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 286.

   No. 26 North Texas was a shot behind Northwestern in sixth place at 1-over 865. The Mean Green opened with a 2-over 290 and added a 7-over 295 before finishing fast with an 8-under 280.

   Host Houston, behind Fredgaard’s individual runnerup finish, was two shots behind North Texas in seventh place in the 13-team field with a 3-over 867 total. The 21^st-ranked Cougars posted a pair of solid 2-under 286s in Monday’s double round before closing with a 7-over 295.

   But everybody in Division I women’s college golf is looking up at Baylor right now. And the scary part is how young and balanced the Bears are.

   They were led to the ICON Invitational by Britta Snyder, a freshman from Ames, Iowa who finished a shot behind Fredgaard in third place in the individual chase at 10-under 206. After opening with a 1-over 73, Snyder fired a sparkling 7-under 65 before closing with a 4-under 68.

   Backing up Snyder was another freshman, Rosie Belsham of England, who finished in a tie for fifth place at 8-under 208. Belsham followed up an opening-round 70 with a pair of 3-under 69s. Gurleen Kaur, Baylor’s veteran junior playing not far from her Houston home, contributed a 2-under 70 to the Bears’ strong final round as she landed in the group tied for 16^th place at 1-under 215. Kaur had opened with a 1-under 71 before adding a 2-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Elodie Chapelet, a senior from France, gave Baylor four players inside the top 20 as she finished up with a solid 3-under 69 to join the group tied for 19^th place at even-par 216.

   Rounding out the Baylor lineup was yet another freshman, Hannah Karg of Germany, who, after struggling to a 77 in Monday’s opening round carded a pair of steady 2-under 70s to end up among the group tied for 26^th place at 1-over 217. When Baylor won the Trinity Forest Invitational earlier this month at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Karg was the individual champion. It just shows how little dropoff there is one through five for Baylor right now.

   It was a solid showing for Fredgaard over the Golf Club of Houston layout as she opened with a 5-under 67 and added a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round to share the 36-hole lead with Tatematsu. Fredgaard finished up with another 3-under 69 for an 11-under 205 total that left her three shots behind Tatematsu in second place.

   Northwestern’s Irene Kim, a sophomore from La  Palma, Calif., finished alone in fourth place, a shot behind Baylor’s Snyder at 9-under 207. Kim added 69 to her opening round of 4-under 68 before closing with a 2-under 70.

   Joining Baylor’s Belsham in a tie for fifth place at 8-under 208 was LSU’s Latanna Stone, a sophomore from Riverview, Fla. who finished up with best individual round of the tournament, a sizzling 8-under 64. Stone had struggled to a 75 in the opening round before righting the ship with a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Stone’s LSU teammate, Linblad, the sophomore Swede, finished a shot behind Belsham and Stone in seventh place at 7-under 209. Linblad’s 7-under 65 paced the field in Monday morning’s opening round. A 1-under 71 in Monday afternoon’s second round left her tied atop the individual leaderboard with Tatematsu and Fredgaard before she stumbled a little in the final round with a 1-over 73.

   Oklahoma State’s Isabella Fierro, a sophomore from Mexico, was a shot behind Linblad with a 6-under 210 total. Fierro was just 16 in the summer of 2017 when she won the North & South Women’s Amateur Championship at the Pinehurst Resort’s iconic No. 2 Course and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at San Diego Country Club before falling to eventual champion Sophia Schubert, a former Texas standout.

   Fierro was strong in Monday’s double round, opening with a 70 and adding a 4-under 68 that had her in contention for the individual title. She matched par with a 72 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Brooke Riley, a graduate student from Manteca, Calif., gave Northwestern a second finisher in the top 10 as she closed with a 3-under 69 to finish alone in ninth place, a shot behind Fierro at 5-under 211. Riley opened with a 2-under 70 and matched par with a 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Carla Tejedo Mulet, a freshman from Spain, gave LSU a third finisher in the top 10 as she landed in a tie for 10^th place with North Texas’ Audrey Tan, a junior from Malaysia, at 4-under 212. Tejedo Mulet opened with a 3-under 69 and added a 1-under 71 before matching par in the final round with a 72. Tan added a pair of 1-under 71s to her opening-round 70.

   Baylor and the rest of the Big 12 teams will always cast a wary eye on Texas. The Longhorns, who have won the last three contested Big 12 Championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019, struggled to a 10^th-place finish in the ICON with a 10-over 874 total.

   Texas was playing without its best player, Austin home girl Kaitlyn Papp, who had a pretty fair portion of the state’s rabid golf fandom rooting for her as she contended deep into the rare December U.S. Women’s Open at Houston’s Champions Golf Club before settling for a tie for ninth place and low-amateur honors.

   Not sure why Papp, No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, didn’t play, but, trust me, nobody in the Big 12 is sleeping on the Longhorns.

 

 

 

 

Fuller claims individual title, helps Florida catch Ole Miss for share of Florida Gators Invitational crown

    England’s Annabell Fuller showed up on the Florida roster just in time to give the Gators a huge boost as the spring portion of  the wraparound 2019-2020 season was  getting under way.

   Fuller had been a 16-year-old on the Great Britain & Ireland team that was pretty thoroughly beaten by a loaded United States side in the 2018 Curtis Cup Match at Quaker Ridge Golf Club, a Donald Ross gem in Scarsdale, N.Y. The kid had to take on former Alabama standout Kristen Gillman, who would win her second U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship later that summer, in a Sunday singles match and dropped a 5 and 4 decision. But that experience of trying to execute in the most difficult of circumstances builds quality scar tissue.

   Early in 2019, Fuller, by then attending the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., finished third in the Harder Hall Women’s Invitational, one of the stops on the unofficial Orange Blossom Tour of women’s amateur events at the Harder Hall Golf Club in Sebring, Fla.

   The coronavirus pandemic stopped the promising start to Fuller’s college career in its tracks last March. She did reach the final of The Women’s Amateur Championship in August at West Lancashire before falling to Germany’s Aline Krauter, a junior at Stanford. Fuller was on a list of 17 candidates released by the Royal & Ancient for the GB&I team for the Curtis Cup Match originally scheduled to be played last June, but which has been rescheduled for August of this year at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales. I’m betting she’s one of the ones who survive the final cut.

   Fuller, No. 46 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), started gaining some momentum toward a spring finish that was taken away from her a year ago with a solid three-shot victory that led Florida, No. 15 in the first Golfstat rankings of the spring, to a share of the team title with Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi, ranked seventh, in the Florida Gators Invitational, presented by VyStar Credit Union, which wrapped up Tuesday at Florida’s home course, the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.

   The wind’s been blowing in Florida and it kept the scores high. Fuller’s 3-under 67 over the 6,002-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick layout in Sunday’s opening round was the best round of the day.

   While many of the players took advantage of a more vulnerable setup for Monday’s second round, Fuller settled for a 2-over 72 that left her a shot behind Maryland’s Virunpat Olankitkunchai, a senior from Thailand, and Ohio State’s Aneka Seumanutafa, a sophomore from Emmitsburg, Md., heading into Tuesday’s final round.

   But Fuller was at her best Tuesday, putting together a flawless 4-under 66, the best individual round of the tournament and her career best, that left her with a 5-under 205 total and a three-shot margin of victory over Olankitnunchai, Seumanutafa and Ole Miss’ Julia Johnson, one of the Rebels’ senior leaders from St. Gabriel, La.

   Starting on the fourth hole, Fuller ripped off nine straight pars, birdied the 13^th hole and then rattled off birdies at 16, 17 and 18 before making pars on the first three holes on the card for a four-birdie, no-bogey tour of her home course.

  The Gators had opened with a 7-over 287 and added an 11-over 291 that left them six shots behind Ole Miss and five behind No. 14 Maryland.

   But Fuller’s 66 led Florida to a closing 2-under 278, the best team round of the tournament, and enabled the Gators to catch Ole Miss for a share of the team crown at 16-over 856 for their sixth straight title in the Florida Gators Invitational.

   Ole Miss had capped a limited fall schedule with a huge win in the East Lake Cup with The Golf Channel cameras rolling. The Bebels, coming off a runnerup finish to Oklahoma State in the Heroes Ladies’ Intercollegiate at The Founders Club in Sarasota, Fla. earlier this month, started slowly with a 293 before moving to the top of the leaderboard with a 1-under 279 in Monday’s second round. Ole Miss closed with a 4-over 284 to join Florida at 16-over 856.

   Maryland earned a share of third place with No. 20 Alabama at 23-over 863.

   The Terrapins, which might be making some noise at the Big Ten Championship this spring, opened with a 291 and added a 2-over 282 and trailed Ole Miss by just a shot going into the final round. Maryland, swimming with some big fish from the SEC, finished up with a 10-over 290. Alabama, slowly working its way back into the national championship picture, got better as the week went on, opening with a 291 and adding a 287 before closing with a 5-over 285.

   It was another three shots back to No. 18 Miami, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, in fifth place at 26-over 866. The Hurricanes bounced back from an opening-round 296 with a 1-over 281 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 9-over 289.

   Another SEC program back on the rise, No. 13 Georgia, finished six shots behind Miami in sixth place at 32-over 872. The  Bulldogs also started slowly with a 296, rebounded with a 4-over 284 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 292.

   No. 25 UCF grabbed the lead following a solid 3-over 283 in the opening round, but fell back with a 290 in Monday’s second round and a final-round 302 that left the Knights three shots behind Georgia in seventh place in the 14-team field at 35-over 875.

   No. 56 Penn State finished in 14^th and last place with an 890 total, but the Nittany Lions didn’t play badly after getting off to a rough 307 start in tough conditions against a tough field. Penn State bounced back with a 290 in Monday’s second round and finished up with a 293.

   Backing up Fuller for Florida was Marina Escobar Domingo, a sophomore from Spain who contributed a 1-under 69 to the Gators’ fast finish in the final round and ended up in the group tied for 12^th place at 5-over 215. Escobar Domingo opened with a 74 and added a 2-over 72 in Monday’s second round.

   Jenny Kim, a junior from Orlando, Fla., added a pair of 1-over 71s to her opening-round 75 to finish in the group tied for 15^th place at 7-over 217. Maisie Filler, a freshman from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., closed with a clutch 2-over 72 to join the group tied for 38^th place at 222. Filler opened with a 73 and struggled to a 77 in the second round.

   Filler’s final-round 72 was big because Addie Baggerly, a senior from Jonesborough, Tenn., was unable to post a score in the final round, for whatever reason. The veteran Baggerly had contributed an opening-round 73 and a 76 in Monday’s second round, both of which were counters.

   After opening with a 72, Johnson, a veteran senior for Ole Miss, carded a 1-under 69 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 3-under 67 to get a share of second place in the individual standings at 2-under 208 and lead the way for the Rebels.

   Andrea Lignell, a sophomore from Sweden, gave Ole Miss a second top-10 finisher as she closed with a 74 to end up among a trio of players tied for eighth place at 3-over 213. Lignell got herself in contention with a sparkling 3-under 67 in Monday’s second round after she had opened with a 72.

   Kennedy Swann, another veteran senior from Austin, Texas, closed with a solid 1-over 71 to land in the group tied for 15^th place at 7-over 287. Swann had struggled to a 76 in the opening round, but bounced back by matching par with a 70 in Monday’s second round.

   Swann, Ohio State’s Seumanutafa, and Vanderbilt’s Auston Kim, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla. and No. 34 in the Women’s WAGR, who was also in the Florida Gators Invitational field, were among the 12 players invited to an audition for the U.S. Curtis Cup team last month at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla.

   Chiara Tamburlini, a sophomore from Switzerland, gave Ole Miss four top-20 finishers as she closed with a clutch 2-over 72 that left her among the group tied for 20^th place at 8-over 218.

   Rounding out the Ole Miss lineup was Smilia Sanderby, a freshman from Denmark who added a final-round 78 to the pair of 76s she posted in the first two rounds as she finished in a tie for 65^th place at 230.

   Olankitkunchai, coming off an individual title in the Paradise Invitational earlier this month at Boca Largo Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla., and Seumanutafa, were in lockstep the whole tournament. Each matched par in the opening round with a 70 and each registered a 2-under 68 in Monday’s second round to share the lead heading into the final round. And both again matched par in the final round with a 70 to finish in a tie for second place, along with Ole Miss’ Johnson at 2-under 208.

   Alabama’s Benedetta Moresco, a freshman from Italy and No. 17 in the Women's WAGR, finished alone in fifth place at even-par 210. After opening with a 73, Moresco fired a 3-under 67 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Tennessee’s Kayla Golden, a freshman from Coral Springs, Fla., and Miami’s Nataliya Guseva, a freshman from Russia, finished in a tie for sixth place at 2-over 212, two shots behind Moresco. Golden sandwiched an even-par 70 in Monday’s second roujnd with a pair of 71s. After opening with a 72, Guseva fired a 3-under 67 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 73.

   Joining Ole Miss’ Lignell in a tie for eighth place at 3-over 213 were Guseva’s Miami teammate, Renate Grimstad, the Hurricanes’ veteran senior from Norway, and Vanderbilt’s Celina Sattelkau, a sophomore from Germany. After opening with a 75, Grimstad ripped off back-to-back 1-under 69s. Sattelkau added a 1-over 71 to her opening-round 70 before finishing up with a 72.

   Leading the way for Penn State was Sarah Willis, a junior from Eaton, Ohio who sandwiched a 1-over 71 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 75s to finish in the group tied for 35^th place at 11-over 221. Megan McLean, a graduate student from Lebanon, N.J., was two shots behind Willis in the group tied for 44^th place at 223. McLean opened with a 76 and added a 3-over 73 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 74.

   After struggling to an opening-round 79, Mathilde Delavallade, a sophomore from France, signed for a solid 1-over 71 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 75 to end up in a tie for 52^nd place at 225. Victoria Tip-Aucha, a freshman from Vienna, Va. via Thailand, landed in the group tied for 56^th place at 227. Tip-Aucha struggled in the opening round with an 82, but recovered nicely, posting a 75 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Ishna Dhruva, a sophomore from Katy, Texas, landed in the group tied for 62^nd place at 229, adding a 78 to her opening-round 77 and closing with her best round of the week, a 4-over 74.