For the third time in the last month, the two leading national women's player-of-the-year candidates-- Arkansas senior Stacy Lewis and Duke junior Amanda Blumenherst--competed in the same tournament, the duo wrapping up the final round of the Bryan Park National Collegiate in Brown Summit, N.C., this afternoon.
Long story short: Lewis (five-over 77/even-par 216 overall) hung on in challenging weather conditions (rain, temps in the high 30s) to her four-stroke lead to start the day, outlasting Blumenherst (74/217), who bogeyed her final hole, and claiming the individual title at Bryan Park's Players Course. The two players are now 2-2 head-to-head for the year (including last fall's Stanford Invitational).
Short story long: It's still unclear who has the edge for player-of-the-year honors. While Lewis' stroke average is higher than Blumenherst (71.88 to 70.67) and her worst finish is also well worse than Blumenherst's (T-23 to T-5), Lewis did win two of the four events that the two players both played in. Likewise, she holds the advantage in individual wins on the season, having claimed five individual titles to Blumenherst's three.
Check out their updated stats here:
AMANDA BLUMENHERST, Duke
Starts: 8
Wins: 3
Stroke average: 70.67
Rounds/Sub-par: 24/13
Percentage of rounds counting for team: 100%
Event Score Finish Team Finish
Mason Rudolph 66-68-69 Win 3rd
NCAA Preview 73-68-67 2nd Win
Lady Tar Heel 71-68-70 Win Win
Stanford 66-73-76 T-5 2nd
Ariz. Wildcat 68-72-73 Win T-2
UCF Challenge 69-68-74 T-3 Win
Liz Murphey 74-72-74 T-3 T-5
Bryan Park Nat'l 70-73-74 2nd 2nd
STACY LEWIS, Arkansas
Starts: 9
Wins: 5
Stroke average: 71.88
Rounds/Sub-par: 26/13
Percentage of rounds counting for team: 100%
Event Score Finish Team Finish
Ky. Wildcat 69-76-71 T-3 3rd
Mercedes-Benz 69-71-71 3rd 3rd
Stanford 69-72-70 Win 4th
UA/Ann Rhodes 68-76-69 Win Win
Puerto Rico 68-70-70 Win T-5
UCF Challenge 70-76-72 T-23 12th
Betsy Rawls 74-77 Win 4th
Liz Murphey 75-74-76 T-10 4th
Bryan Park Nat'l 70-69-77 Win 4th
Not unlike the Democratic party's race for a presidential nominee, this contest between Lewis and Blumenherst is still too close to call. Both players have their respective conference championships (Lewis in the SEC at Tennessee National in Louden, Tenn., April 18-20, Blumenherst in the ACC at Florida's LPGA International April 18-20) and then will wait for the NCAA postseason to begin.
Bottom line: The most exciting POY race in a decade is only likely to get more exciting.
Rating
Comments
Post A Comment