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Lady Puerto Rico Rio Mar River Course Rio Mar, P.R. NU's Finish: 4th/15 teams BirdieFire.com Scoring Final Results  | |
RIO MAR, P.R. -- Freshman Hannah Kim (Chula Vista, Calif./Otay Ranch) went on a birdie barrage Tuesday in the final round of the Lady Puerto Rico to help Northwestern climb up to a fourth-place finish at the event hosted by Purdue on the Rio Mar River Course.
Kim's final round 4-under 68 featured a 5-under 31 on the back nine in which she carded six birdies in a seven-hole stretch. The watch for a 29 was on before a bogey at No. 18 prior to making the turn back around to the front side during the shotgun start.
Kim moved to a solo second finish -- the best of her career -- at 2-under 214 (72-74-68) with the round, which also matched her previous collegiate best set in the fall at NU's home Windy City Memorial Classic.
The Wildcats began Tuesday's shotgun on holes 5-8, which set the team up for scoring opportunities early before facing the River Course's incredibly difficult stretch of opening holes from Nos. 1-4 at the end of their round. On Monday, Northwestern had the exact same setup, charging into second place before settling back down into a fifth-place tie.
In the final round, NU again threatened for second place early on before hanging on for a fourth-place finish at 22-over 886 (296-299-291) via a final round 3-over 291, which was tied for the second-best team score of the day. Seventh-ranked Northwestern finished two strokes behind third-place No. 33 Iowa State, three shots behind second-place No. 20 LSU and 10 behind the winners, No. 4 Arkansas.
NU defeated notables No. 18 N.C. State, No. 21 Auburn, No. 26 GRU Augusta and No. 28 Kent State among the talented field.
Senior Hana Lee (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Wilson) shook off a bogey on her first hole Tuesday to birdie the next two in a row. Another birdie at the par-4 13th got her to 2-under on the day before she had three bogeys in her final seven holes for a 1-over 73. Lee ended up 15th overall with a 5-over 221 (73-75-73).
Junior Kaitlin Park (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) was in great shape early Tuesday with three birdies among her first six holes. A bogey at No. 17, then a double bogey at No. 2 sent her back over par to a 2-over 74 Monday and a 26th-place 8-over 224 (74-76-74) for the tournament.
Junior Suchaya Tangkamolprasert (Bangkok, Thailand/Bromsgrove Christian School) was 1-under par through six holes of play in her final round, but five bogeys after that point led to a 4-over 76. She finished 34th with a 54-hole total of 12-over 228 (77-75-76).
Freshman Sarah Cho (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) started her final round with a double bogey at the par-5 eighth hole, and although she sprinkled a couple of birdies into her scorecard, she finished the day at 5-over 77. Cho completed this tournament, the first of her collegiate career as a member of the team lineup, in 55th place at 17-over 233 (81-75-77).
Playing as an individual, sophomore Kacie Komoto (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) finished a strong tournament with a strong final round performance. She carded two birdies, one bogey and 15 pars for a 1-under 71 to place 12th overall at 3-over 219 (74-74-71).
Northwestern returns to action March 2-4 at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla.
Northwestern - 4th/15 296-299=595 (+19)
2 -- Hannah Kim -- 72-74-68=214 (-2)
12 -- Kacie Komoto * -- 74-74-71=219 (+3)
T15 -- Hana Lee -- 73-75-73=221 (+5)
26 -- Kaitlin Park -- 74-76-74=224 (+8)
T34 -- Suchaya Tangkamolprasert -- 77-75-76=228 (+12)
T55 -- Sarah Cho -- 81-75-77=233 (+17)
* Denotes playing as an individual
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