Sept. 21, 2014
Clara Baena earned her second top-2 finish in two events at the Mason Rudolph Championship. (Wade Rackley photo)
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Sophomore Clara Baena earned a runner-up finish, helping the Auburn women's golf team to another strong performance as the Tigers tied for fourth Sunday at the Mason Rudolph Championship.
Auburn recorded rounds of 298-292-295=885 (+21) at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course, moving up one spot from where it began the day to tie for fourth place along with GRU-Augusta. Coupled with a win earlier this month at the "Mo" Morial, Auburn is off to its best start since the 2011-12 season when the Tigers earned top-3 finishes in each of their first five tournaments.
Baena continued her hot start to the season, following up her co-medalist showing at the "Mo" Morial with a tie for second place this week. After a bogey at the second hole, Baena was error-free over her final 16 holes, carding birdies at the sixth, 13th and 18th holes to finish with a 70 (-2) in the final round, moving her to 214 (-2) for the tournament.
Baena is the first Auburn golfer to finish under par in back-to-back tournaments since Marta Sanz did so in the first two tournaments of the 2012-13 season. She is also the first Auburn golfer to earn back-to-back top-two finishes since Victoria Trapani in 2011-12.
Freshman Sophia Schubert also came up in a big way for the Tigers on Sunday. She recorded a final-round even-par 72 to finish in a tie for eighth place, giving her top-10 finishes in each of her first two collegiate tournaments. Her final round consisted of two birdies and two bogeys, giving her two rounds at par or better for the week.
Kelli Murphy posted a final-round 75 to finish at 8-over for the week, tying for 26th place, and Alex Harrell tied for 48th at 229 (+13) after a final-round 78.
Vanderbilt took the team title at even-par 864 for the week, finishing 11 shots ahead of LSU. Mississippi State was third, five shots ahead of Auburn. The Commodores' Jenny Hahn was the individual medalist at 211 (-5), three shots ahead of Baena and Vanderbilt's Cindy Ha.
Auburn will be back in action Oct. 10-12 at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Mason Rudolph Championship - Franklin, Tenn. (Par 72) - Final Results | |||
| Team Results | |||
| 1. | Vanderbilt | 288-283-293=864 | E |
| 2. | LSU | 285-292-298=875 | +11 |
| 3. | Mississippi State | 292-292-296=880 | +16 |
| T4. | Auburn | 298-292-295=885 | +21 |
| T4. | GRU Augusta | 295-291-299=885 | +21 |
| 6. | Virginia | 297-298-299=894 | +30 |
| 7. | Chattanooga | 291-300-304=895 | +31 |
| 8. | Lamar | 307-292-303=902 | +38 |
| 9. | Kentucky | 299-299-305=903 | +39 |
| 10. | Alabama | 294-308-302=904 | +40 |
| T11. | Michigan State | 310-292-308=910 | +46 |
| T11. | Tulane | 299-309-303=910 | +46 |
| 13. | Princeton | 301-298-315=914 | +50 |
| 14. | Vanderbilt (B-Team) | 306-304-305=915 | +51 |
| 15. | Clemson | 308-303-305=916 | +52 |
| Auburn Individual Results | |||
| T2. | Clara Baena | 73-71-70=214 | -2 |
| T8. | Sophia Schubert | 75-71-72=218 | +2 |
| T26. | Kelli Murphy | 75-74-75=224 | +8 |
| T48. | Alex Harrell | 75-76-78=229 | +13 |
| T63. | Jamie Yun | 75-78-82=235 | +19 |
| 75. | Nicole Quinn* | 81-82-81=244 | +28 |
*Competing as an individual