MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Purdue women's golf team defended its 2015 title by tying for the team championship Tuesday at the Minnesota Invitational, hosted by the Golden Gophers at the Minikahda Club. The Boilermakers and Furman posted matching scores of 18-over, 882, as Purdue shot three-over, 291, while Furman finished two-under, 286.
The Boilermakers reversed their trend from yesterday's competition, coming away under par on the front-nine, while giving a few strokes back over the second half of the course. Led by impressive work from junior Linn Andersson, classmate Marta Martin and senior August Kim, Purdue scored one-under over the first nine holes, and held a late lead over hard-charging Furman, which was tabbed No. 16 in GolfWeek.com's preseason poll.
Holding a one-stroke lead with just a few holes left to play, Andersson sank a birdie on her final hole (No. 1), as did sophomore Covadonga SanJuan, carding a three on the par-four, No. 2. Furman's Haylee Harford made a huge push down the stretch for her squad, making birdie on three of her last six holes and securing a share of medalist honors. A bogey from Kim on No. 17 left the Boilermakers in a tie with Furman.
Martin was the Boilermakers' top player of the day and top individual in the tournament, shooting one-under, 71, Tuesday to finish tied for third overall at one-over, 217. Kim was one stroke behind Martin, shooting one-over, 73, and finishing two-over, 218, and tied for fifth, while Andersson cracked the top-10, tying for 10th place at five-over, 221, after an even-par, 72, Tuesday. SanJuan turned in the final score for the Boilermakers' card, shooting three-over, 75, for the second straight round and placing 26th, individually, at 10-over, 226.
Furman's Harford matched Kentucky's Isabelle Johansson for medalist honors at one-under, 215, for the tournament as the pair shot matching four-under, 68's, Tuesday. Martin tied for third with Minnesota's Heather Ciskowski, while Kim was one of three players tied for fifth. Texas took third place in the team standings, finishing nine strokes behind Purdue and Furman.
The Boilermakers return to action Monday, Oct. 3, heading to Golf, Illinois for the Windy City Collegiate Classic, hosted by Northwestern.