Song wins the individual title at Stanford tourney


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Jennifer Song proved again why she is the No. 1-ranked collegiate golfer with a second straight victory at the Stanford Intercollegiate Championship over the weekend. Song’s second career individual title came thanks to her 8-under-par 205 (67-71-67) at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif., giving her four rounds in the 60s in five tries this year.

“I think I played awesome,” Song said. “Even though I had a couple of double bogeys and bogeys in my second and third round, I kept thinking about the amount of birdies I could still make.”

That positive thinking led Song to the third-lowest tournament score in team history.

“I stayed patient and thought positive out there,” Song said.

Song led the No. 1 USC women’s golf team to a fifth place finish at 21-over 873 (289-295-289), 23 strokes behind No. 3 Arizona State. In a tournament where the Women of Troy were missing junior All-American Lizette Salas, the team relied on senior All-American Belen Mozo to pick up the slack.

Mozo made her season debut at the Stanford Intercollegiate after undergoing shoulder surgery over the summer, and tied for 33rd at 7-over 220 (75-70-75), good for second place on the team.

A few strokes behind Mozo were sophomore Inah Park and freshman Cyna Rodriguez, who tied for 47th at 13-over 226. Park overcame a second round 80 to shoot a 73 on the final day, despite deteriorating conditions. The first two days were sunny with good golfing conditions, but the final day had play delayed by an hour due to fog in the morning.

“It got really chilly and windy, and I think a lot of players struggled in the afternoon,” Song said.

Rodriguez was consistent over the course of the tournament, with scores of 74, 77 and 75 in the second tournament of her USC career.

Senior Caroline Kim wrapped up the Women of Troy’s roster with a tie for 60th at 17-over 230 (79-77-74), improving upon her previous score in every round.

The Women of Troy will travel to the University of North Carolina’s women’s Fall Preview this weekend in Wilmington, N.C., but will again be doing so without one All-American. Song will not be traveling with the team this week, as she is leaving this Saturday to play in the Hana Bank KOLON Championship in Incheon, South Korea.

“This is an excellent opportunity for us to get depth and get everybody into the lineup to get competitive experience,” USC coach Andrea Gaston said.

The Women of Troy will play in North Carolina from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25, then travel to Hawaii for a tournament Nov. 2 to Nov. 4, which concludes their fall season. Despite the hectic schedule, Gaston isn’t worried about fatigue or the team falling behind in school.

“They all know what’s expected, and they all enjoy the competitions,” Gaston said. “They obviously have to do the best they can to keep up.”