Yuen hangs on for second straight top-five finish

Calum McAndrew

With three holes to play, Missouri women’s golf’s Jessica Yuen was comfortably inside the top five of The Bruzzy in Argyle, Texas. Bogeys on her 16th and 17th holes of the day, however, meant her safety net had disappeared.

Yuen hung on by making a par at the last hole to post a third-round 73 and finish tied for fifth at Lantana Golf Club for her second straight All-Tournament finish.

For the first time in either of those events, Yuen’s single-round score did not lead the team.

Brianne Bolden posted a 2-under 70 Monday as the Tigers combined for a 2-over 290, their lowest round since Nov. 7. Missouri climbed three spots on the leaderboard from a tie for 11th to eighth in the final standings. It was the team’s best finish of the season.

Oklahoma State ran away with the team event after recording rounds of 284, 272 and 292 to beat out second-placed Texas Tech by 13 strokes. Missouri finished 32 strokes behind the Cowgirls after rounds of 297, 294 and 290.

Oklahoma State also fielded the individual medalist as Lianna Bailey posted rounds of 3-under 69, 6-under 66 and 2-under 70 to finish the week 11 under and eight strokes clear of anyone else in the field. Yuen ended the event nine strokes short of Bailey’s total.

Behind Yuen, Bolden jumped up 22 spots to a tie for 29th to finish as Missouri’s second-ranked player at 4 over. Noelle Beijer also posted her low round of the week with an even-par 72. She finished 6-over and in a tie for 37th.

Sophia Yoemans had a 75 Monday to go along with a 74 and 76 Sunday to finish in a tie for 47th. Emily Staples finished 69th as her final-round, 4-over 76 was the drop score Monday.