CHAPEL HILL—Although the tournament bears the name of their biggest rivals, the Blue Devils found themselves right at home this weekend.
No. 7 Duke captured its third consecutive title at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at the Finley Golf Course Sunday with a dominating 13-stroke victory. Duke took the lead from the get-go and never looked back, finishing atop the leaderboard after all three days of action.
“Through all the rain and everything coming into this event, we prepared pretty well," Duke head coach Dan Brooks said. "We got them out there when it was raining and we weren't going to let the weather stop us from preparing, so I felt like we came into this pretty well.”
The Blue Devils were led to victory behind individual title winner Leona Maguire. The Cavan, Ireland, native carded a tournament-leading, three-under 69 in Friday's opening round followed by an even-par 72 Saturday. In the final round of action, Maguire sunk a pair of clutch putts in the final three holes to rise up the leaderboard and stake her claim to another trophy with an overall four-under-par score.
The reigning National Player of the Year entered Sunday’s action a stroke ahead of Louisville’s Molly Skapik. But Maguire’s stiffest challenge came from Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham. Burnham connected on a pair of birdie putts on the 13th and 15th—while Maguire bogeyed both holes—giving the Spartan a two stroke lead with just three holes to go.
But when the stakes were at their highest, Maguire responded.
The sophomore responded from her bogey on No. 15 with a birdie on No. 16 to cut Burnham’s lead to only a shot. On No. 17, Maguire hit arguably her shot of the tournament when she chipped her third shot from the rough to within five feet of the hole.
After a short birdie tap, Maguire found herself back atop the leaderboard. With Burnham missing a par putt on the 18th green, Maguire reclaimed sole possession of first place and sank the winning par putt to claim the title.
“She birdied 16 and 17 to win this thing and that’s just what she does," Brooks said. "She had a shot to get the birdie on 17 out of the rough and staked it about three feet away.”
The Blue Devils got off to a strong start Friday and finished with four golfers in the top 13 on the individual leaderboard. Junior Sandy Choi’s two-under-par 70 was good for third, while senior Celine Boutier finished tied for 13th with freshman Virginia Elena Carta after carding a one-over-par 73.
But things got tricky Saturday when rainy conditions put a damper on play all day long. Despite having its struggles individually, Duke performed well enough to stretch the four-stroke lead it held entering the round to 11 shots by the end of play. A big reason for that was the team’s ability to stay level-headed and fight through struggles.
“It’s been a bit of a tradition that we’ll get a bigger lead or move up on somebody when bad weather comes in,” Brooks said. “That just comes down to determination, mental toughness… Sort of what’s inside, how much do you want it, are you willing to fight when things go bad? If you let the elements get to you, you’re not going to score as well so you have to rise above that.”
With Maguire setting the pace, the Blue Devils also received solid performers from their other golfers. The veteran Boutier finished her final round of play tied for 14th at five over-par, and Choi came 13th despite three bogeys on the back nine. After a tough start to the tournament, sophomore Gurbani Singh responded nicely by finishing at only two over-par in the last two rounds combined. The Delhi, India, native finished tied for 36th at nine over-par.
Carta—the newest member of the Duke team—finished tied for 7th overall at two-over-par. After turning in rounds of 73 and 74 in the first two days of the tournament, the Udine, Italy, native had her struggles early Sunday and bogeyed consecutive holes on the front nine. Yet, Carta was able to fight back and finish strong, including an emphatic fist-pump after a birdie on No. 17.
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