Junior Leads Women's Golf to Title at Liz Murphey

Sunday, March 24

Athens, GA

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

Liz Murphey Coll. Classic

Junior Leads Women's Golf to Title at Liz Murphey

Sunday, March 24, 2002 | Women's Golf

Junior Jeanne Cho (Bradenton, Fla.) shot a 73 in the final round to win the individual title, and junior Brittany Straza's 69 Sunday led the Gators to a win at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic - their third title this season. Florida won the tournament, which was hosted by the University of Georgia, with a score of 879, defeating No.1-ranked Auburn by one stroke.

"It was an awesome display of golf by both Auburn and Florida," said Head Coach Jill Briles-Hinton. "It was wire-to-wire. It came down to putts on the last hole. Everybody hung in there and made some key putts and shots."

I'm very proud of our team. I'm extremely excited. They've worked hard and deserve this. We've won a couple tournaments this year, but we went toe-to-toe with the No.1 team in the country and prevailed. The team matured this week."

Cho made a birdie on the 18th hole Sunday to clinch the title, but both Amanda Dick (Clearwater, Fla.), who made par on her last hole and Straza, who birdied on her last two holes, set the scenario up for Cho's putt. For the tournament, Cho shot a 216 (75-68-73) to edge Mississippi State's Anna Gertsson and Georgia's Angela Jerman. The win is the second of her career.

"I'm very excited," said Cho. "Our team has been working very hard. This is very motivating for the rest of the season."

Straza finished in fourth place with a 219 (74-76-69), and Dick finished tied for 11th with a 73-78-72--223. Rounding out the individual scoring were Whitney Code (Tampa, Fla.) in a tie for 16th with a 224 (79-69-76) and Andrea Vander Lende (Longwood, Fla.), who finished in a tie for 31st with a 231 (80-75-76).

Florida's win marks the first time since the 1995-96 season that the Gators have won three tournaments in one season. It is also the fifth-lowest three-round tournament score in school history.

The Gators return to action April 5-7 at the Florida Women's Collegiate Golf Tournament, hosted by the University of Miami in Miami Lakes, Fla. Florida will then travel back to Athens, Ga., and the University of Georgia's course for the SEC Championships April 19-21.

Team Scores

1. Florida 301-288-290--879

2. Auburn 303-287-290--880

3. Georgia 297-299-298--894

4. South Carolina 305-299-298--902

5. Furman 301-301-307--909

6. North Carolina 313-299-300--912

7. Mississippi State 308-302-309--919

8. Wake Forest 311-306-304--921

9. East Carolina 319-306-306--931

T10. Alabama 313-313-306--932

T10. Memphis 322-303-307--932

T10. Nebraska 319-301-312--932