Merchan Posts Top-10 Finish at Moon Golf Invitational
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
MELBOURNE, Fla., FEB. 20, 2018 –
Maria "Nani" Merchan put together a performance the Bulls can definitely build on at the Moon Golf Invitational.
Battling windy conditions, Merchan fired a 2-under 70 in the final round to finish in a tie for 10
th place out of 74 players Tuesday at Duran Golf Club (par 72, 6,309 yards).
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Merchan started her final round with a birdie on No. 15 and collected four more on the way to her first top-10 finish of the season. The junior from Caracas, Venezuela moved up 11 places on the leaderboard in the final round to secure the second top-10 performance of her career.
Merchan saved her most impressive work for the end of the final round, when she made a breaking 20-foot birdie putt on the 13
th hole. The wind picked up as Merchan hit her ball into the water on the par-4, 376-yard 14
th hole, which set the stage for a fantastic finish.
One of the most mentally tough Bulls on the team, Merchan bounced back in a big way after her penalty drop on 14. Going up and down from about 140 yards out, Merchan saved par by sinking another huge 20-foot putt that caught the attention of new head coach
Erika Brennan.
Merchan's stellar final round helped USF move up a spot to 12
th place while Brennan also was encouraged by
Sophie Stone's tournament run. The junior from Oxford, England finished her second event of the season with rounds of 75 and 76 to move up to a tie for 42
nd place.
USF Scores
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Individual
| Pos. |
Player (Team) |
Rd 1 |
Rd 2 |
Rd 3 |
Total |
| 66 |
Haley Danford (South Florida) |
77 |
78 |
84 |
239 |
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Quotable
Head coach Erika Brennan on Maria "Nani" Merchan's top-10 performance:
"She's somebody that just absolutely turns it on when it comes to tournament golf. It was really cool to see her put three solid rounds together, especially in those conditions. Yesterday afternoon, she had it at 3-under par so deep into the round and I know that's not the finish she wanted, even though it was an even-par round. We had a great conversation about staying the course and the fact that she was right on the brink of doing some awesome stuff. To see her performance today was just so awesome to watch as a coach."
Brennan on the team making continuous improvements that will pay off down the road this spring:
"It may not be tangible for anybody on the outside to see, but we know as a group that we're getting better. We still have to focus on consistency, but there are small things we're doing that are significantly better than even a month ago. I think we will connect the dots and see some truly awesome progress this spring and we're really right there. I was really encouraged with how they played, especially dealing with the wind. I thought it was a long golf course and the wind made it incredibly challenging. Attitude-wise, I felt like they stayed in it. They tried to get as much as they could from their rounds and as a coach, that's really all you can ask for. There's some stuff that we're going to clean up and work on before we get ready to go down to Miami. They're hungry, they want to be better and they want to perform. Again, we can continue to make strides with those awesome attitudes."
Notable
- Maria "Nani" Merchan posted her first top-10 performance since tying for 10th as a freshman at the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 6, 2016.
- Sophie Stone shot par or better on 40 of 54 holes and led the lineup with 35 pars.
Up Next
USF will travel to Coral Gables, Fla., for the Hurricane Invitational, which begins Monday, March 5 at Biltmore Golf Course.
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About USF Women's Golf
USF heads into the spring season with a new head coach. Erika Brennan comes to USF after two seasons of leading the Southern Mississippi women's golf program. Brennan brings seven seasons of head coaching experience to the Bulls' program, having also served five seasons as women's golf head coach at nearby Saint Leo University, and nine years of collegiate coaching experience overall.
For the latest information on USF women's golf, follow the team on Twitter @USFWGolf and Facebook.Â
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