Michigan State has finishing kick to take Big Ten crown; Nebraska's Smith the individual champion

    Going into Sunday’s final round of the Big Ten Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio, the team crown was up for grabs with five teams within 10 shots of each other.

   By the end of the day, it was Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll’s Michigan State Spartans that had grabbed the brass ring, winning its third Big Ten crown since 2017 and 14^th overall, 11 of them under Slobodnik-Stoll.

   Maybe Michigan State, No. 41 in the latest Golfstat rankings, was concerned that it might not get an at-large bid into the NCAA regionals. Well, the Spartans took care of that, their five-shot victory over three teams tied for second giving them the Big Ten’s automatic spot into the NCAA field.

   Michigan State had opened with a 2-under 286 at TPC River’s Bend and added a 7-under 281. The Spartans were tied for the top spot with surprising Maryland, which at No. 19, was the highest-ranked team in the field. But a final round of 2-under 286 with the conference crown on the line gave Michigan State an 11-under 853 total.

   The Terrapins, enjoying their best season since joining the Big Ten, had opened with a 1-under 287 before adding an 8-under 280, the best team round of the tournament, in the second round that enabled them to join Michigan State at the top of the team leaderboard. Maryland closed with a 3-over 291 to fall back into a tie for second place with Michigan, which saw its ranking drop a little from No. 23 to No. 25, and No. 55 Nebraska, which made a big final-round move behind Kate Smith, a senior from Detroit Lakes, Mich. who fired a breathtaking 8-under 64 over the 6,300-yard, par-72 TPC River’s Bend layout. Maryland, Michigan and Nebraska all ended up with a 6-under 858 total.

   Michigan had opened with a 2-over 290, but added back-to-back 4-under 284s to get its share of second place. Nebraska had opened with a 5-over 293, but improved to a 4-under 284 in the second round before posting the low team round of Sunday’s final round, a 7-under 281, to get a piece of runnerup honors.

   Perennial Big Ten power Northwestern, which saw its ranking drop from No. 21 to No. 30, was nine shots behind the three teams tied for second place as the Wildcats ended up with a 3-over 867 total. Northwestern added a 2-under 286 to its opening round of 3-over 291 and was 10 shots behind Michigan State and Maryland heading into Sunday’s final round.

   The Wildcats were unable to mount a final-round charge, posting a 2-over 290, but Northwestern will be a team to be reckoned with, no matter where their NCAA regional journey sends them.

   It was another 14 shots back to No. 72 Penn State in sixth place in the 13-team field at 17-over 881, but that effort capped a very encouraging spring for the Nittany Lions. After opening with a 297, they registered back-to-back 4-over 292s for their highest finish since Denise St. Pierre’s 2014 team landed in fourth place.

   The Big Ten would not allow its golf teams to compete in the fall due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic, so it was a spring sprint to last weekend’s conference championship. But considering that the pandemic shut down college golf completely in the spring of 2020, I’m sure everybody at TPC River’s Bend was happy to get a chance to tee it up in the Big Ten Championship.

   None more so than Michigan State. The Spartans were led by Valery Plata, a junior from Colombia and No. 57 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). After opening with a 75, Plata, who made a run to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. last summer, ripped off back-to-back 4-under 68s to finish in a tie for third place in the individual standings with a 5-under 211 total, four shots behind the champion Smith.

   Paz Marfa Sans, a graduate student from Spain, took up the NCAA on its offer of a fifth year of eligibility to make up for the spring of her senior season stolen by the pandemic and she made that extra season count. Marfa Sans, who finished fourth in the last Big Ten Championship contested two springs ago at TPC River’s Bend, matched par in the first two rounds with a pair of 72s before contributing a 2-under 70 to the Spartans’ final-round push to the title. Marfa Sans finished alone in eighth place in the individual standings with a 2-under 214 total.

   Michigan State got strong showings from the two freshmen in its lineup as Leila Raines of Galena, Ohio finished among the group tied for 11^th place at even-par 216 after getting herself in contention for the individual title through two rounds, and Valentina Rossi of Argentina ended up in the group tied for 14^th place at 1-over 217.

   Raines’ 3-under 69 was the best round of the day for the Spartans in Friday’s first round. She added a 1-under 71 and trailed Maryland’s Laura Van Respaille, a senior from France, by just a shot in the individual chase before struggling to a 76 in the final round. Rossi added a solid 2-under 70 to her opening-round 74 before closing with a 1-over 73 and all three of her rounds were counters for Michigan State.

   Yurika Tanada, a senior from Japan, gave the Spartans a fifth finisher in the top 20 as she landed in a tie for 20^th place at 4-over 220. Tanada matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-over 73 before closing with a 75. All three rounds were counters.

   The Big Ten allows six players in the lineup for the conference championship and Haylin Harris, a junior from Carmel, Ind. was the Spartans’ sixth. Harris struggled a little at TPC River’s Bend adding a 74 to her opening round of 1-over 73 before closing with an 80 that left her in the group tied for 45^th place at 227.

   But Harris was good enough to qualify for match play in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont, falling in the first round to Plata in a Sparty vs. Sparty opening-round match. Harris can play.

   So too, can Nebraska’s Smith. With The Golf Channel’s cameras rolling at Champions Retreat Golf Club, Smith had the lead in the first round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this month. The cameras were still on when she cooled off, eventually failing to advance out of the playoff for the final spot in the top 30 for the final round at Augusta National Golf Club.

   Rather than discourage her, the experience only seems to have energized Smith. She trailed Van Respaille by four shots after matching par in the opening round with a 72 and adding a 1-under 71 in the second round.

   Smith unfurled a brilliant eight-birdie, no-bogey final-round 64 to blow by Van Respaille and the rest of the field, finishing with a 9-under 207 total. The 64 matched her program record as she became the first Cornhusker to claim a Big Ten individual title.

   Northwestern’s Irene Kim, a sophomore from La Palma, Calif. and No. 73 in the Women’s WAGR, had a pretty nifty final round of her own, a 5-under 67 that enabled her to claim runnerup honors with a 6-under 210 total, three shots behind Smith. Kim had opened with a 73 before adding a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round.

   Joining Plata in the tie for third place at 5-under 211 was Michigan’s Ashley Lau, a junior from Malaysia who added a pair of 2-under 70s to her opening-round 71.

   Maryland’s Xialin Tan, a graduate student from China, finished alone in fifth place at 4-under 212 as she matched par in the opening round with a 72 and fired a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Tan’s teammate, Van Respaille, had added a 3-under 69 to her opening-round 70 to grab the individual lead going into the final round. She backed off a little with a 2-over 74 in the final round to finish in a tie for sixth place with Penn State’s Sarah Willis, a junior from Eaton, Ohio, at 3-under 213.

   It seems like forever ago that Willis burst onto the scene with a smashing individual title in Penn State’s Nittany Lion Invitational as a freshman competing as individual in the fall of 2018. A lot has happened since then, not the least of which was the global pandemic that seemed to knock Willis, and a lot of players, off their games a bit.

   But after opening with a 75, Willis showed she’s still got it, unfurling a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71 to join Van Respaille in the tie for sixth place. It was the best individual finish for a Penn State player at the Big Ten Championship since Cara Basso, a Villa Maria Academy product, landed in a tie for fourth place in the spring of 2018. Willis will be the veteran senior in the fall, hopefully a fall that will again include college golf and another Nittany Lion Invitational to tee it up in.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings were two players, Northwestern’s Kelly Sim, a junior from Edgewater, N.J., and Michigan’s Monet Chun, a freshman from Canada, who finished in a tie for ninth place, a shot behind Michigan State’s Marfa Sans at 1-under 215.

   After opening with a 73, Sim signed for a pair of 1-under 71s to get it under par for three rounds at TPC River’s Bend. Chun opened with a 1-under 71 before matching par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 72s.

   Backing up Willis for Penn State was Ishna Dhruva, a sophomore from Katy, Texas who finished alone in 32^nd place at 7-over 223. Dhruva opened with a 73 and added a 76 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with her best round of the weekend, a 1-over 74.

   Mathilde Delavallade, a sophomore from France, finished a shot behind Dhruva in the group tied for 33^rd place at 8-over 224. Dalavallade matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a pair of 76s.

   Like many players who were seniors in the spring of 2020, Megan McLean, a Voorhees High product, didn’t hesitate to come back for a fifth year. She has probably been Penn State’s most consistent player this spring. At TPC River’s Bend, McLean followed up a pair of 76s with a final round of 1-over 73 to finish among the group tied for 46^th place at 225.

   Victoria Tip-Aucha, a freshman from Vienna, Va. via Thailand, capped her debut season by finishing in the group tied for 52^nd place at 229. After struggling to an opening-round 80, Tip-Aucha added a 2-over 74 before closing with a final-round 75.

   Sophomore Taylor Waller, who starred scholastically at Canon-McMillan, rounded out the Penn State lineup as she finished among the group tied for 60^th place at 223, sandwiching a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 79s.