NORMAN, Okla. -- Furman's Audrey Ryu (-3) fired a final-round 71 Wednesday at the NCAA Norman Regional at the par-72, 6,445 yard Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club finish in seventh place and claim the individual qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 16-21 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Due to inclement weather in the Norman area, teams began the final round on Tuesday afternoon then concluded the round on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Ryu, a sophomore from Dublin, Ohio, notched three birdies before the turn and sat at 1-under with five holes to play when the round was called due to darkness. She parred all five holes on Wednesday to finish the round as the top player not on an advancing team.
Senior Alise Knudson (+11) and sophomore Kelsi Mauzy (+11) tied for 49th. Knudson tallied a 78 with a birdie on No. 1 in the final round, while Mauzy posted a 75 with birdies on No. 10 and No. 17. Freshman Jenna Madden (+14) finished in a tie for 55th after scoring a 78 with three birdies in round three, and freshman Andrea Marin Raga, who subbed in for rounds two and three, added an 84 with a birdie on No. 16 in the last round. Â
Top-ranked Stanford (-23) won the regional by nine strokes over 12th-ranked Northwestern (-14). No. 24 Michigan State (-1) finished third, and host Oklahoma (E), which ranks 36th nationally, placed fourth. No. 37 Baylor (+3) claimed the final qualifying spot in fifth place. Furman (+33) finished ninth, one spot behind 13th-ranked North Carolina (+20).Â
Furman was part of a 12-team regional field that battled for a top-five finish and a berth in the 30-team NCAA Championship. The Paladins, which secured the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing their 21st league championship last month at Solina Golf Club in Columbia, S.C., made their 25th NCAA Regional appearance. Furman appeared in 17-straight regionals from 1993, when the regional format began, until 2010. Â
9 Furman 297 298 302 897 +33
7 Audrey Ryu 72 70 71 213 -3
T49 Alise Knudson 72 77 78 227 +11
T49 Kelsi Mauzy 76 76 75 227 +11
T55 Jenna Madden 77 75 78 230 +14
SUB Andrea Marin Raga -- 78 84 162 +12
SUB Eva Ringwald 78 -- -- 78 +6
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