Purdue finishes atop strong Rancho Bernardo field

Laura Gonzalez-Escallon during the 2010 NCAA Championship.

Women's Rankings »

Rank	Name	School	Rating
1	Annie Park	USC	69.91
2	Stephanie Meadow	Alabama	69.92
3	Mariah Stackhouse	Stanford	70.62
4	Kelsey Vines	Okla. St.	70.68
5	Lindy Duncan	Duke	70.81

Rank	Name	Rating	Events
1	Southern California	71.09	10
2	Alabama	71.45	10
3	Duke	71.65	10
4	Oklahoma	72.01	10
5	Arkansas	72.27	10

Purdue won its second consecutive tournament on March 22 at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo. The defending national champions beat USC by seven shots in the West Coast showdown that included six of the top teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

The Boilermakers (No. 7) finished the three-day event at 15-over 879 at the Rancho Bernardo Inn Championship Course in San Diego while top-ranked USC came in at 22 over. Purdue also won the Administaff Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate on March 14. It was the team’s first win since back-to-back victories in the fall at the Windy City Collegiate and the Lady Northern Invitational.

Purdue claimed four golfers inside the top 15 individually, including individual medalist Laura Gonzalez-Escallon. Her final-round 68 tied her season-low round, and her 7-under 209 total left her six shots ahead of UNLV’s Therese Koelbaek and USC’s Lizette Salas.

UCLA (No. 2) was third at Rancho Bernardo, just one shot back of USC. Georgia (No. 21) finished fourth at 39-over 903 and Auburn (No. 22) rounded out the top 5.