Auburn wins Moon Golf Invitational, which included a blowout of rival Alabama by 54 strokes
Cantonis shot stellar in the second round after teammates covered her first round, then Davidson led Auburn's third-round surge to move past Texas A&M on the leaderboard and take the tournament title.
Auburn women’s golf head coach Melissa Luellen knew her Tigers would have their chance.
Auburn shot four-over in the opening round of the Moon Golf Invitational on Sunday in Melbourne, Fla., while then-leader Texas A&M carded a three-under. Auburn after 18 holes trailed the Aggies by seven strokes.
“In team golf,” Luellen said at the time, though, “that can be erased quickly.”
Sure enough, Auburn fired a five-under in the second round on Monday to cut A&M’s lead to three strokes through 36 holes, then completed the chase-down on Tuesday by firing a tournament-best six-under third round to win the event.
Auburn finished seven-under for the tournament, three strokes ahead of Texas A&M, which finished in second place, and topping a field that included eight teams in the nation’s top 15 in the rankings and 10 SEC teams total.
Auburn’s archrival Alabama finished 47 strokes over par, bested by the Tigers by 54 strokes.
Auburn’s Charlotte Cantonis closed the second round with an eagle on No. 18 — one of only three eagles in the tournament by anyone in the field, and the only eagle scored on that hole.
Just like that, Texas A&M’s five-stroke lead was whittled down to three going into the clubhouse at the end of Round 2. The chase was on, and the Tigers eventually ran the Aggies down.
Molly Brown Davidson finished runner-up on the individual leaderboard, shooting three-under, but it wasn’t any individual effort by Davidson or Cantonis that won the tournament for Auburn — it was team golf. Auburn in each of the three rounds dropped a score from a different golfer each day — with teammates covering for each other’s mistakes and taking up the baton at different times.
Yes: Cantonis saw her seven-over first round be dropped by her teammates, allowing her with no harm done to reset and fire a blistering seven-under in the second round, capped by that eagle on No. 18.