GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Chirapat Jao-Javenil fired her third consecutive round under par Sunday, leading a Sooner charge in the final round at the SunTrust Gator Invitational.
Alabama, however, was just as good on a day it opened three strokes in front of OU on the 6,074-yard, par 70 Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Both the fourth-ranked Sooners and the third-ranked Crimson Tide finished with rounds of 6-over par 286: Alabama for a tourney-winning 865 total and OU for a second-place 868.
“I’m proud of the way we played this week. We hung right in there until the end,” Sooner coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell said. “This was a great field for us and we know what we need to work on before our next event.”
Jao-Javenil, the reigning NCAA tournament medalist, won the individual portion of the event, finishing in 4-under par 206 after rounds of 69, 68 and 69. Anne-Catherine Tanguay also posted a top-10 finish, claiming eighth place with a 206 total after rounds of 69, 74 and 73.
Also for OU, Jade Staggs placed 35th with a (78-77-70) 225 total. Emily Collins was a stroke back in 38th place at (72-78-76) 226, while Taylor Schmidt finished in 56th position at (75-81-74) 230.
Following Alabama and OU, Florida (870), Oklahoma State (877) and Virginia (877) closed out the top five in the 15-team event.
The Sooners have one regular season event remaining on April 5-7 at the SMU/Dallas Athletic Club Invitational.
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