ATLANTA – Texas A&M women’s golfer Blanca Fernández García-Poggio won the individual stroke play title at the East Lake Cup by two strokes on Monday, securing the No. 1 seed for the Aggies heading into match play at the East Lake Golf Club.
“Blanca picked up where she left off,” head coach Gerrod Chadwell said. “She had a great week at Arkansas and carried that over here. She has been really strong at practice the past couple of weeks and kind of blew everybody away in qualifying. She was in total control on a very competitive golf course, so I am very proud of her.”
The No. 3 Texas A&M women’s golf team, behind the stellar play of Fernández García-Poggio, earned the top seed going into match play. The Aggies will take on No. 18 UCLA in the first round of match play on Tuesday. The Maroon & White shot 1-under 287 during stroke play, followed by No. 6 Oregon (+1), No. 24 Auburn (+6) and UCLA (+18).
“As a team, we stayed patient and it was good to see us back in our element again,” Chadwell said. “UCLA didn’t play that great today, but the beauty of match play is that doesn’t matter. The job is not done yet. We put ourselves in good shape heading into match play, but we have to go out and play good golf again tomorrow. It will be a whole new day.”
Fernández García-Poggio was the lone golfer in the field to shoot under par, going 2-under 70 at the historic East Lake Golf Club. The Madrid, Spain, native’s championship round was highlighted by a team-high five birdies and a beautiful chip in from 25 feet out on No. 16 for eagle. The title marked the senior’s second individual championship and the first of her season.
Zoe Slaughter and Adela Cernousek both tied for second, carding an even-par 72. The duo combined for eight birdies, including a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 16 for Cernousek. Jennie Park tied for ninth, shooting 1-over 73. The ANNIKA Award Watch List honoree has strung together six straight top-15 outings. Hailee Cooper rounded out the group at 4-over 76 and placed 15th.
Up Next
The Maroon & White is set to tee off against UCLA at 10:15 a.m. The match will be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 2-5 p.m. and live stats can be found at golfstat.com.
Story by Brandon Collins, Athletics Communications