Northwestern University Athletics
Kim Leads After 18 As 'Cats Seek Fourth Straight Hurricane Title
2/27/2017 5:23:00 PM | Women's Golf
CORAL GABLES, Florida – Hannah Kim carded a 3-under 69 in Monday's first round of the 2017 Hurricane Invitational, and sits atop the field after 18 holes at The Biltmore Golf Course (Par-72; 6,150 yards).
2017 Hurricane Invitational – LIVE LEADERBOARD
Led by Kim and Stephanie Lau (T7), the No. 16 Wildcats will tee off Tuesday in second place on the team leaderboard. Northwestern is in search of its fourth consecutive title in Coral Gables.
The reigning Hurricane Invitational individual champion played her first nine of the competition at even par, with a pair of birdies balanced by a pair of bogeys. But Kim was near flawless on the back nine, posting a birdie on the 361-yard, Par-4 No. 11, and back-to-back birdies to finish the round on the 348-yard, Par-4 No. 17, and the 459-yard, Par-5 No. 18. The Chula Vista, California, native shares the top spot on the leaderboard with two other student-athletes, among a group of only 11 (of 86) to finish the first round under par. Monday marked Kim's fourth straight round under par at the Biltmore, stretching back to last season (67-68-64-69).
Lau sits just two strokes back of her teammate through 18 holes, finishing Monday's opening round at 1-under. The sophomore birdied two of the Biltmore's four Par-5 offerings, including No. 18, to finish her round under par.
Competing as an individual, sophomore Monica Matsubara recorded the Wildcats third-best round of the day on Monday. She birdied two of her first five holes in the first round and wrapped up the day with a 1-over 73, one stroke ahead of teammate and classmate Janet Mao.
The Wildcats will spend Tuesday paired with the hosts, Miami, and Big Ten peer Michigan. Lau's group will get things started on No. 1 at 7:30 a.m., the first pairing of the day, followed by Mao, Kim, Sarah Cho and Kacie Komoto in eight-minute increments.
Northwestern – 2/15 • 289-R2-R3 = 289 (+1)
T1 – Hannah KIM – 69-R2-R3=69 (-3)
T7 – Stephanie LAU – 71-R2-R3=71 (-1)
T20 – Monica MATSUBARA [IND] – 73-R2-R3=73 (+1)
T26 – Janet MAO – 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
T34 – Kacie KOMOTO – 75-R2-R3=75 (+3)
T34 – Sarah CHO – 75-R2-R3=75 (+3)
T54 – Brooke Riley [IND] – 76-R2-R3=76 (+4)
This year's Hurricane field includes 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.
Last spring, Kim, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, and the Wildcats broke every major scoring record in program history at The Biltmore.
Kim led nearly wire-to-wire in Coral Gables, sitting atop the leaderboard after the opening round and never surrendering the top spot over the final 36 holes of competition. She entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, and birdied four of her last six holes of the tournament to end the competition with a blistering 7-under 64, shaving two strokes off the program's previous 18-hole record. Her 199 total, five strokes ahead of anyone else in the field, is the only sub-200 tournament in Wildcats history.
Northwestern's team score of 828 was 21 shots ahead of second-place Iowa State, and 21 strokes better than the previous Wildcats 54-hole record, an 849 at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship. During three rounds of competition, the team carded the program's three-lowest single-round scores ever. Komoto finished T4, Cho finished T8 and Lau (T14) and Suchaya Tangkamolprasert (T20) also finished inside the Top-20.
2017 Hurricane Invitational – LIVE LEADERBOARD
Led by Kim and Stephanie Lau (T7), the No. 16 Wildcats will tee off Tuesday in second place on the team leaderboard. Northwestern is in search of its fourth consecutive title in Coral Gables.
The reigning Hurricane Invitational individual champion played her first nine of the competition at even par, with a pair of birdies balanced by a pair of bogeys. But Kim was near flawless on the back nine, posting a birdie on the 361-yard, Par-4 No. 11, and back-to-back birdies to finish the round on the 348-yard, Par-4 No. 17, and the 459-yard, Par-5 No. 18. The Chula Vista, California, native shares the top spot on the leaderboard with two other student-athletes, among a group of only 11 (of 86) to finish the first round under par. Monday marked Kim's fourth straight round under par at the Biltmore, stretching back to last season (67-68-64-69).
Lau sits just two strokes back of her teammate through 18 holes, finishing Monday's opening round at 1-under. The sophomore birdied two of the Biltmore's four Par-5 offerings, including No. 18, to finish her round under par.
Competing as an individual, sophomore Monica Matsubara recorded the Wildcats third-best round of the day on Monday. She birdied two of her first five holes in the first round and wrapped up the day with a 1-over 73, one stroke ahead of teammate and classmate Janet Mao.
The Wildcats will spend Tuesday paired with the hosts, Miami, and Big Ten peer Michigan. Lau's group will get things started on No. 1 at 7:30 a.m., the first pairing of the day, followed by Mao, Kim, Sarah Cho and Kacie Komoto in eight-minute increments.
Northwestern – 2/15 • 289-R2-R3 = 289 (+1)
T1 – Hannah KIM – 69-R2-R3=69 (-3)
T7 – Stephanie LAU – 71-R2-R3=71 (-1)
T20 – Monica MATSUBARA [IND] – 73-R2-R3=73 (+1)
T26 – Janet MAO – 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
T34 – Kacie KOMOTO – 75-R2-R3=75 (+3)
T34 – Sarah CHO – 75-R2-R3=75 (+3)
T54 – Brooke Riley [IND] – 76-R2-R3=76 (+4)
This year's Hurricane field includes 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.
Last spring, Kim, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, and the Wildcats broke every major scoring record in program history at The Biltmore.
Kim led nearly wire-to-wire in Coral Gables, sitting atop the leaderboard after the opening round and never surrendering the top spot over the final 36 holes of competition. She entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, and birdied four of her last six holes of the tournament to end the competition with a blistering 7-under 64, shaving two strokes off the program's previous 18-hole record. Her 199 total, five strokes ahead of anyone else in the field, is the only sub-200 tournament in Wildcats history.
Northwestern's team score of 828 was 21 shots ahead of second-place Iowa State, and 21 strokes better than the previous Wildcats 54-hole record, an 849 at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship. During three rounds of competition, the team carded the program's three-lowest single-round scores ever. Komoto finished T4, Cho finished T8 and Lau (T14) and Suchaya Tangkamolprasert (T20) also finished inside the Top-20.
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