CORAL GABLES, Florida – Junior Hannah Kim fired a final round 67 on Wednesday to win her second consecutive Hurricane Invitational championship, leading No. 16 Northwestern to a remarkable fourth straight team crown at The Biltmore Golf Course.
2017 Hurricane Invitational – RESULTS
After leading the tournament after 18 holes and lurking near the top of the leaderboard throughout the first two days, Kim teed off the final round in a tie for sixth, two strokes off the lead. She bogeyed No. 2, but then dominated the rest of the front nine with birdies on Nos. 3, 5 7 and 9 to wrap up the first half of her round at 3-under. Coming out of the turn, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year recorded par on her first four holes, but then birdied three of her last five, including No. 18, to finish the final round with a 5-under 67, the best round of any participant in the field this weekend.
The victory is Kim's first of the season, and her 210 is the seventh-best 54-hole tournament score in program history. The Chula Vista, California, native's Wednesday 67 is her program-record sixth career round at 67-or better.
The junior had familiar company near the top of the Hurricane leaderboard, as three Wildcats were among the eight total competitors that finished under-par. Sophomores Janet Mao and Stephanie Lau both earned Top-8 finishes, the former thanks to a tremendous finishing kick. Mao opened her day on No. 2 and carded pars on 14 of her first 15 holes. But the Georgia native closed with a birdie on the 348-yard, Par-4 No. 17, and an eagle-3 on the 501-yard, Par-5 No. 1, to record a 2-under 70 and secure a share of third place, her best result of the campaign.
Lau earned her best finish of the season with an eighth-place result thanks to a pair of 71's on Monday and Tuesday. She was better than anyone in the 86-player field on The Biltmore's shortest offerings, playing the Par-3 holes at 2-under during the weekend, and was one of the tournament's best on the course's Par-5's at 6-under.
Junior Sarah Cho picked up her third Top-20 finish of the season with a final round 72.
Kim and Lau led the entire field in birdies for the weekend with 15 and 12, respectively. Behind that dynamic duo, the Wildcats carded 49 total birdies in Coral Gables, 11 more than anyone in the field.
This marks the fourth consecutive championship in south Florida for Northwestern. The Wildcats captured the 2016 Hurricane title in record-setting fashion with a 24-under 828, winning by a remarkable 21 strokes, led by individual medalist Kim who finished five strokes better than anyone in the field. The 2015 crown was decided by a six-shot margin, while the 2014 championship was in come-from-behind fashion, as the 'Cats carded the low round on the tournament's final day to edge Iowa State by one stroke.
The Hurricane Invitational is the 11th tournament championship for the 'Cats with head coach Emily Fletcher at the helm, a stretch that includes three Big Ten titles and a win at the 2016 Shoal Creek NCAA Regional.
Northwestern will return to the course on March 20 in Rancho Santa Fe, California, at March Mayhem hosted by San Diego State University.
Northwestern – 1/15 • 289-288-282 = 859 (-5)
1 – Hannah KIM – 69-74-67=210 (-6)
T3 – Janet MAO – 74-69-70=213 (-3)
8 – Stephanie LAU – 71-71-73=215 (-1)
T20 – Sarah CHO – 75-74-72=221 (+5)
T33 – Monica MATSUBARA [IND] – 73-75-75=223 (+7)
T42 – Kacie KOMOTO – 75-76-74=225 (+9)
T79 – Brooke Riley [IND] – 77-82-80=239 (+23)
This year's Hurricane field included seven teams currently ranked in the Golfstat Top-50, headlined by Northwestern and the hosts, No. 14 Miami. Augusta State, Barry, East Carolina, FIU, Iowa State, Louisville, Mercer, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Penn State, South Dakota State, USF and Virginia Tech round out the leaderboard.
2017 Hurricane Invitational – RESULTS
After leading the tournament after 18 holes and lurking near the top of the leaderboard throughout the first two days, Kim teed off the final round in a tie for sixth, two strokes off the lead. She bogeyed No. 2, but then dominated the rest of the front nine with birdies on Nos. 3, 5 7 and 9 to wrap up the first half of her round at 3-under. Coming out of the turn, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year recorded par on her first four holes, but then birdied three of her last five, including No. 18, to finish the final round with a 5-under 67, the best round of any participant in the field this weekend.
The victory is Kim's first of the season, and her 210 is the seventh-best 54-hole tournament score in program history. The Chula Vista, California, native's Wednesday 67 is her program-record sixth career round at 67-or better.
The junior had familiar company near the top of the Hurricane leaderboard, as three Wildcats were among the eight total competitors that finished under-par. Sophomores Janet Mao and Stephanie Lau both earned Top-8 finishes, the former thanks to a tremendous finishing kick. Mao opened her day on No. 2 and carded pars on 14 of her first 15 holes. But the Georgia native closed with a birdie on the 348-yard, Par-4 No. 17, and an eagle-3 on the 501-yard, Par-5 No. 1, to record a 2-under 70 and secure a share of third place, her best result of the campaign.
Lau earned her best finish of the season with an eighth-place result thanks to a pair of 71's on Monday and Tuesday. She was better than anyone in the 86-player field on The Biltmore's shortest offerings, playing the Par-3 holes at 2-under during the weekend, and was one of the tournament's best on the course's Par-5's at 6-under.
Junior Sarah Cho picked up her third Top-20 finish of the season with a final round 72.
Kim and Lau led the entire field in birdies for the weekend with 15 and 12, respectively. Behind that dynamic duo, the Wildcats carded 49 total birdies in Coral Gables, 11 more than anyone in the field.
This marks the fourth consecutive championship in south Florida for Northwestern. The Wildcats captured the 2016 Hurricane title in record-setting fashion with a 24-under 828, winning by a remarkable 21 strokes, led by individual medalist Kim who finished five strokes better than anyone in the field. The 2015 crown was decided by a six-shot margin, while the 2014 championship was in come-from-behind fashion, as the 'Cats carded the low round on the tournament's final day to edge Iowa State by one stroke.
The Hurricane Invitational is the 11th tournament championship for the 'Cats with head coach Emily Fletcher at the helm, a stretch that includes three Big Ten titles and a win at the 2016 Shoal Creek NCAA Regional.
Northwestern will return to the course on March 20 in Rancho Santa Fe, California, at March Mayhem hosted by San Diego State University.
Northwestern – 1/15 • 289-288-282 = 859 (-5)
1 – Hannah KIM – 69-74-67=210 (-6)
T3 – Janet MAO – 74-69-70=213 (-3)
8 – Stephanie LAU – 71-71-73=215 (-1)
T20 – Sarah CHO – 75-74-72=221 (+5)
T33 – Monica MATSUBARA [IND] – 73-75-75=223 (+7)
T42 – Kacie KOMOTO – 75-76-74=225 (+9)
T79 – Brooke Riley [IND] – 77-82-80=239 (+23)
This year's Hurricane field included seven teams currently ranked in the Golfstat Top-50, headlined by Northwestern and the hosts, No. 14 Miami. Augusta State, Barry, East Carolina, FIU, Iowa State, Louisville, Mercer, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Penn State, South Dakota State, USF and Virginia Tech round out the leaderboard.