HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. — Katy Harris completed one of the best four-year careers in LSU women’s golf history Friday by finishing third in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at the El Campeon course at the Mission Inn Resort.
Harris, the 54-hole leader at 4-under par, bogeyed three holes on the front nine, her last nine holes of the day, to finish at 1-under 287, two shots behind both Candy Hannemann of Duke and Lorena Ochoa of Arizona at 285 (3-under). Hannemann and Ochoa had entered the day in a tie for sixth. Harris was the only one of the 54-hole top five individual players to remain in the top five as Candie Kung of Southern California comes from ninth to a tie with Harris at 1-under and idnivdiual player Young-A Yang of Tennessee moved from 12th to 5th with a final round 69 to finish at even par 288.
Harris opened the day with a bogey on the 10th, but got her round back to even with a birdie on the 18th hole, her ninth of the day. But at the same time on the back nine, Ochoa started with four birdies to get to 4-under for the tournament. She got one birdie on the front side and 2 bogeys to finish the round and the tournament at 3-under. Hannemann also came in at 69 to get to 3-under.
While Harris did not win an event in her four-year collegiate career, the South Bend, Ind., senior helped rewrite the LSU record book, finishing with the lowest single-season scoring average in school history of 73.18. She also finished with the career LSU scoring average of 75.41 over four years and the third place finish was her 20th top 10 finish, third best at LSU.
Harris’ third place finish is the best by an LSU golfer in the NCAA Division I Championships since Kristi Coats finished tied for third as an individual competitor representing LSU in 1991.
“Katy did a spectacular job and this is such a wonderful way for her to end her career,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “She has been a special player for us and she was so close to getting it done here this week.”
LSU could not continue the success of Thursday’s third round in the final round on Friday, shooting a 16-over par 305 on the final day and that will put the Tigers in a tie for the 12th spot in the final totals. LSU would finish with a four-day total of 1,210, 58-over par.
It was Georgia from the Southeastern Conference, under first year coach Todd McCorkle, rallying in the final round to capture the championship with a final round of 2-over 290. The four-round total of 24-over 1,176 was three-shots better than Duke at 1,179. Texas took third at 1,191, two shots ahead of Auburn (1,193).
Besides Harris, 75 in the final round, the Tigers counted a team-best 74 from Meredith Duncan, a 77 from Isabel Dornellas and a 79 from Lesley McClurg. Duncan, a junior from Shreveport, finished in a tie for 45th, while Dornellas, the freshman from Rio DeJaneiro who came in at mid-season, tied for 60th.
“We couldn’t get a putt to go down all week and no more so than (Friday),” said Bahnsen. “I would have loved to have been higher, but we’ll take what we were able to get. We could have been better, but just couldn’t get the team all together except for that one round.”
NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FLA.
Final Team Results (Par 288-1152)
1. Georgia 298-295-293-290 — 1176 +24
2. Duke 299-293-290-297 — 1179 +27
3. Texas 298-299-291-303 — 1191 +39
4. Auburn 300-294-294-305 — 1193 +41
5. Oklahoma State 293-299-300-302 — 1194 +42
5. UCLA 295-299-299-301 — 1194 +42
7. Southern California 296-307-293 -300 — 1996 +44
8. Arizona 302-301-296-298 — 1197 +45
9. Stanford 298-303 -300-300 — 1201 +49
10. Tulsa 307-291-301-309 — 1208 +56
11. New Mexico State 301-298-307-303 — 1209 +57
12. LSU 304-303-298-305 — 1210 +58
12. Michigan State 310-300-304-296 — 1210 +58
14. Pepperdine 299-306-300-306 — 1211 +59
15. Kent State 304-309-298-313 — 1224 +72
16. Washington 315-305-310-295 — 1225 +73
17. San Jose State 303-312-311-300 — 1226 +74
18. Arizona State 305-309-300-314 — 1228 +76
19. California 302-308-312 -312 — 1234 +82
20. Purdue 305-309-309-313 — 1236 +84
20. New Mexico 318-307-308-302 — 1236 +84
22. South Florida 314-314-310-309 — 1247 +95
23. Ohio State 313-312-316-310 — 1251 +99
24. South Carolina 308-323-311-308 — 1254 +102
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-288)
1. Candy Hannemann, Duke 75-72-69-69 — 285 -3
1. Lorena Ochua, Airzona 73-71-72-69 — 285 -3
3. Katy Harris, LSU 72-70-70-75 — 287 -1
3. Candie Kung, Southern California, 72-74-71-70 — 287 -1
5. Young-A Yang, Tennessee 75-73-71-69 — 288 E
LSU Scores
t3. Katy Harris 72-70-70-75 — 287 -1
t45. Meredith Duncan 75-79-75-77 — 306 +18
t60. Isabel Dornellas 75-79-75-77 — 306 +18
t98. Lesley McClurg 80-81-76-79 — 316 +28
t106. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 78-81-81-80 — 320 +32
Katy Harris Hole-by-Hole
Friday, May 25, 12:15 p.m. CDT
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | in | total |
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 37 | 72 |
| Score | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4- | 4- | 5 | 4- | 3 | 5 | 38 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 75 |
| +/- par | E | E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | E | +3 |