KENNESAW, Ga. - The Purdue women's golf team struggled in the final round of the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate on Tuesday but nearly held on for the win, taking second place in the tournament with a final score of 13-over, 877. Senior August Kim played another standout round for the Old Gold & Black, tying for individual medalist honors with a final total of three-under, 213.
Heading into the final day with a three-shot lead, the Boilermakers worked to hold off several ranked opponents down the stretch. Texas Tech made the first run at the leaderboard, pushing their score as low as -6 late in the final round, but came back to Earth with a final team mark of even-par, 288, and finished 14-over par for the tournament. Birdies from Kim and freshman Micaela Farah on No. 17 bumped the Boilermakers back in front with just a few holes to play, but No. 13 Kent State staged a furious rally down the stretch with four birdies over the last three holes to finish seven-over for the day and 12-over for the tournament.
With her sixth straight round of par or better, Kim shot one-under, 71, Tuesday and matched Kent State's Pimnipa Panthong for medalist honors. The Boilermaker senior played the final nine holes at two-under with birdies on No. 10 and No. 17 to mark her first individual title of the season and third of her career. Sophomore Covadonga SanJuan and Farah turned in top-20 individual performances for the tournament, tying for 12th and 15th respectively, despite a rough final round for SanJuan of seven-over, 79.
Farah and juniors Marta Martin and Linn Andersson tied for Tuesday's other three team rounds, shooting matching scores of five-over, 77. Farah has now carded a team score in 12 straight rounds to start her Boilermaker career.
The Boilermakers continue play at Georgia on April 8, heading to the annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. Loosely mimicking the new NCAA Championship format, the Liz Murphey opens with 18 holes of stroke play, followed by three rounds of match play to decide the team championship.