Jessica Yadloczky may just be too young to realize that Duke is supposed to win women's golf tournaments. Tiffany Chudy knows that all too well.
On Sunday, the precocity of youth and the savvy of experience helped the Gators upturn the conventional wisdom.
Yadloczky singed the Players Course at the Bryan Park National Collegiate in Browns Summitt, N.C., for a one-under 71, the lowest in the field on Sunday, and Chudy fired the second-lowest, an even-par 72.
The two low scores keyed a 19-over 307 in the final round that sealed UF's third tournament title of the season and second of the spring.
The No. 5 Gators finished at 42-over for the tournament, two shots ahead of No. 1 Duke, and were aided by the Blue Devils' struggles at round's end: four of five Duke golfers bogeyed the last hole of their round.
The tough Players Course, which yielded only two sub-300 rounds all weekend (Duke's 294 and UF's 298, both on Friday), only stiffened as the tournament progressed.
But Chudy got better as the tournament wore on, dropping her score from 78 to 76 to 72 over three rounds, and Yadloczky recovered from a team-high 79 on Saturday to notch her 71.
And on a day when Ornella Jouven, Hannah Yun, and Whitney Myers all shot 82, combining for just two birdies and a staggering 25 bogeys or worse, the Yadloczky-Chudy connection was the deciding factor.
Yadloczky made four birdies in her final round, three of them in her final six holes, and finished tied for fifth at 8-over for the weekend. Chudy had three birdies and three bogeys and earned a share of tenth place at ten-over.
Jouven finished tied for 17th at 13-over, and Yun tied for 29th at 16-over.
Myers rounded out UF's efforts at 19-over, claiming a share of 45th.
