SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Texas A&M women’s golfer Jennie Park shot 2-under 70 in the final round of stroke play at the 2022 NCAA Championships, lifting the Aggies to match play as the No. 3 seed at the par-72, 6,340-yard Grayhawk Golf Club on Monday.
The Aggies shot 1-over 289 as a team and outperformed No. 1 Stanford (+9) and No. 2 Oregon (+12), who they were paired with in the final round. The Maroon & White will take on six-seed Florida State at 8:20 a.m. CT from No. 10 in the quarterfinal match on Tuesday. A&M will advance to match play for the first time in program history with a score of 14-over 1,166 through 72 holes.
Park was paired with the eventual NCAA Individual Champion and No. 1 player in the country, Stanford’s Rose Zhang, in round four. The junior was 10 shots back at the start of the round but erupted on the front nine with four birdies to close the gap. The Carrollton, Texas, native went toe-to-toe with Zhang, outperforming her with a 2-under 70 scorecard to Zhang’s 3-over 75. Park finished tied for third place and 1-under 287 after four rounds of play.
Zoe Slaughter wowed the crowd with a 148-yard shot on the par-4 No. 9 hole that landed 30 feet from the pin and rolled straight into the cup for eagle. The sophomore finished the day 3-over 75 and tied for 17th with a 5-over 293 stroke play score.
Adela Cernousek posted the best round of her NCAA Championships run, carding a 1-under 71 on Monday. The freshman standout went 6-over 294 and tied for 21st through stroke play.
Blanca Fernández García-Poggio knocked down four birdies en route to a 1-over 73 round. The junior tied for 31st and went 7-over 296 for the tournament. Hailee Cooper rounded out the group in 77th with a 28-over 316 scorecard.
Tournament Outlook
Live stats for the fourth round can be found on Golfstat.com here. Action will be broadcast live on Golf Channel.
Next Up
The tee time for quarterfinal will take place at 8:20 a.m. CT from No. 10. If the Maroon & White advances, it will take on the winner of the Oregon versus San Jose State matchup after the conclusion of the quarterfinal match Tuesday afternoon.
Pairings Versus Florida State
Blanca Fernández García-Poggio vs. Alice Hodge
Adela Cernousek vs. Beatrice Wallin
Hailee Cooper vs. Elle Johnson
Zoe Slaughter vs. Amelia Williamson
Jennie Park vs. Charlotte Heath
Post-Round Quotes
Head Coach Gerrod Chadwell
On the confidence in this lineup in match play and the performance today…
“I said at the beginning of the week, if we got to this point then it would be really hard to get rid of us. We don’t have a true number one player or true number five player. Everyone has had great finishes at some point this week. I like the variety that we will be able to put out in match play. I am really excited for the girls. We are playing great golf and we were the best team in the country today. We went toe-to-toe with Stanford and Oregon and came out ahead.
Junior Jennie Park
On her play today…
“I am learning something new about the golf course every day. I am trying to use that to my advantage. I was very excited about to pay with girls I played with today because they are obviously really great players. I tried to stay patient today and focus on what I could do.”
On the confidence level heading into tomorrow…
“We feel really confident heading into tomorrow. It is head-to-head so we need to focus on what we can do and how we play our game. I want to take it slow and not try to make something happen but let something happen.”
Team Standings
1 – Stanford (+9)
2 – Oregon (+12)
3 – Texas A&M (+14)
4 – UCLA (+17)
5 – Auburn (+23)
6 – Florida State (+27)
7 – San Jose State (+29)
8 – Georgia (+30)
---CUT LINE---
9 – Arizona State (+32)
10 – USC (+33)
11 – LSU (+36)
12 – Purdue (+37)
13 – Texas (+38)
14 – South Carolina (+39)
15 – Virginia (+49)