SARASOTA, Fla. – There were only five under-par rounds through the first 36 holes of the Spartan Sun Coast Invitational on Sunday, and sophomore Samantha Brown carded one of them. The Boilermaker opened with a 71 (-1), and she added a 76 (+4) in the afternoon to sit in third on the individual leaderboard to pace Purdue Women’s Golf at the windy Palm Aire Country Club.
With 18 holes remaining, the Boilermakers (+36) find themselves in a tie for sixth place alongside the College of Charleston. No. 23 Northwestern (+24) holds a two-shot lead over Oklahoma (+26), while Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State are tied for third at 31-over. On the individual leaderboard, Brown is only three strokes behind Northwestern’s Dianna Lee (E), the only golfer not over par for the tournament.
Playing in extremely difficult conditions, Brown made just six bogeys through 36 holes, the second fewest in the 83-player field. She finished strong in the morning round, going 3-under through the final five holes to secure her team-leading 10th round of par-or-better this season. All three of those birdies were on par 4s, and the sophomore’s par-4 scoring (+3) ranks fifth in the field.
Wind gusts up to 40 miles-per-hour throughout the day pushed the tournament scoring average to 78.25, including 79.34 in the afternoon. Ashley Kim played better than the field average in both rounds, carding a 76 (+4) followed by a 78 (+6). Luana Valero joined her teammate at 10-over through 36 holes with rounds of 74 (+2) and 80 (+8). Lauren Timpf shot 76 (+4) in the morning before an 81 (+9) in the afternoon contributed to Purdue’s team scores. Playing the par 3s strong all season long, Timpf continued that trend to rank fourth in the field in par-3 scoring (E) heading into the final round.
The Boilermakers look to climb the leaderboard during Monday’s final round, teeing off at 8:15 a.m. ET alongside Kentucky (+37) and hosts Michigan State (+38).
For updates throughout tomorrow’s final round, follow Purdue Women's Golf on Twitter @PurdueWGolf.
BOILERMAKERS
T-3. Samantha Brown: 71-76—147 (+3)
T-28. Ashley Kim: 76-78—154 (+10)
T-28. Luana Valero: 74-80—154 (+10)
T-48. Lauren Timpf: 76-81—157 (+13)
T-68. Ella Weber: 80-83—163 (+19)
*T-28: Michaela Headlee: 78-76—154 (+10)
*Competing as an individual
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. #23 Northwestern: 294-306—600 (+24)
2. Oklahoma: 299-303—602 (+26)
T-3. Michigan: 296-311—607 (+31)
T-3. Maryland: 303-304—607 (+31)
T-3. Ohio State: 305-302—607 (+31)
T-6. Purdue: 297-315—612 (+36)
T-6. College of Charleston: 302-310—612 (+36)
8. Kentucky: 296-317—613 (+37)
9. Michigan State: 308-306—614 (+38)
10. #25 Kent State: 300-315—615 (+39)
11. Illinois: 305-315—620 (+44)
12. Clemson: 310-316—626 (+50)
13. Iowa: 306-325—631 (+55)
14. FIU: 310-323—633 (+57)
15. Princeton:319-335—654 (+78)