March 28, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The ninth-ranked Purdue women's golf team carded a 290 in the final round of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the UGA Golf Course on Sunday. By recording their lowest score in the third and final round, the Boilermakers moved up four spots to tie with No. 2 Auburn for fourth place.
Fourth-ranked Duke earned the tournament title with a final score of 889, 21 shots ahead of No. 6 Alabama. Arkansas finished third at 912 followed by the Boilermakers and Auburn in fourth at 915.
Duke's Lindy Duncan shot a combined total of 231 to edge teammate Stacey Kim by eight strokes for the individual title.
Purdue juniors Maude-Aimee LeBlanc and Thea Hoffmeister each shot a team-low 70 in the final round, posting the only below-par rounds of the tournament for the Boilermakers. LeBlanc's two-under par effort moved her into a team-best tie for ninth with a three-round total of 226 (75-81-70). Freshman Laura Gonzalez Escallon was Purdue's most consistent duffer, finishing tied for 13th, just one stroke behind LeBlanc, with a 227. Escallon opened with a 77, carded a 76 in the second round and finished with a 74 on Sunday.
Hoffmeister tied for 20th with a 229 after knocking 10 strokes off from round two to round three (79-80-70). Junior Numa Gulyanamitta tied for 61st (79-83-76=238) and sophomore Kishi Sinha tied for 78th (82-78-80=240).
The Boilermakers will compete in the PING/ASU Invitational April 9-11, before heading to Madison, Wis., for the Big Ten Championships held on April 23-25.