WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Former Purdue women's golfer Laura Gonzalez Escallon earned her first professional tournament victory this weekend, topping the field at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek Country Club in Battle Creek, Michigan. Gonzalez Escallon was incredibly dominant in the weather-shortened event, finishing 15-under par, 129, for 36 holes and setting a new course record.
The Belgian native opened the weekend with a seven-under, 65, on Friday, matching the Battle Creek Country Club course record and taking a solid lead on the field. She followed up in strong fashion Saturday, going lower with a course-record, eight-under, 64, and holding a five-stroke edge going into the final round. Sunday's final round was cancelled after a severe storm halted play in the morning and they were unable to resume.
The score tied the Symetra Tour's 36-hole record and makes Gonzalez Escallon the first-ever player representing Belgium to win on the Symetra Tour. The victory also earned the former Boilermaker a spot in the LPGA's Evian Championship, set for September 15-18 in Evian-Les-Bains, France. It will be the first-career LPGA event for the third-year professional.
Gonzalez Escallon joined the Symetra Tour in 2014, after a stellar Purdue career that included an NCAA Individual third-place finish and the 2010 NCAA team championship. A two-time All-American, she won a pair of Big Ten individual championships (2010, 2012), and earned both Big Ten Player of the Year and the Mary Fossum Award (low strokes season average) in 2012. The 2010 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, she was a First Team All-Big Ten award winner in all four years at Purdue, Gonzalez Escallon still holds several high marks in the Boilermaker record books. She's tied for second all-time with a round of 65 (-7) at the 2012 Lady Puerto Rico Classic and owns the best 72-hole score in Purdue history with an eight-under, 280 (71-70-70-69), at the 2012 NCAA Championships. The Boilermakers finished in the top three at the NCAA Championships in three of her four years, winning the 2010 team title, finishing second in 2011 and taking third in 2013.