SAN DIEGO, CA -- Texas A&M freshman Patricia Garcia carded a pair of even-par 72’s and finished second to lead the No. 13 Aggie women’s golf team to a third-place finish at The Battle at Rancho Bernardo Inn on Tuesday.
With her best collegiate finish, Garcia covered up three bogeys, all on the front nine, with birdies on 8, 12 and 18 to finish even in the second round and even overall with 144. She was just two shots back of Southern Cal’s Sophia Popov (142) who won the individual title.
No. 3 Southern Cal also won the team title with a 14-over 590. No. 8 Arizona State was second with 592 and the Aggies, with the lowest round of the day (294) finished with 596.
A&M was followed by No. 19 California (597), No. 21 Pepperdine and Tulane (602), Miami (605), UNLV (609), Long Beach State (615), Texas and No. 17 Washington (617), Denver (623), No. 16 Arizona and Coastal Carolina (624), New Mexico (627) and San Diego State (629).
Junior Mary Michael Maggio tied for 15th with 149 (72-77) and sophomore Katerina Ruzickova tied for 22nd with 151 (77-74).
Junior Sarah Beth Davis had the Aggies’ best round of the day with a 1-under 71. She turned in a 152 (81-71) and tied for 26th. Junior Aly Smith, who competed as an individual, tied for 35th with 154 (77-77) and junior Susy Grunden tied for 69th with 160 (82-78).
The Battle at Rancho Bernardo was shortened to 36 holes after Sunday’s round was cancelled due to weather.
A&M next competes in the PING/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., March 30-April 1.
