April 23, 2017 Big 12 Championship Final Results and Statistics 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Eighteen months after having a benign leg tumor surgically removed, Baylor redshirt sophomore Dylan Kim can add Big 12 champion to an impressive resume that already included second-team All-American.
Carding five birdies in Sunday's final round of 4-under-par 68, Kim won the individual title at the Big 12 Championship with a 54-hole total of 2-under 214, beating Texas freshman Emilee Hoffman by three shots.
"We're extremely proud of Dylan," Baylor coach Jay Goble said. "It's been kind of a long road for her comeback. For her to get back to this point and get to where her game is sharp again and comfortable out there playing, it's been exciting and been fun to watch her continue to improve throughout the year.
"It's always awesome to win, but for her to win her first college tournament at the Big 12 Championship is extra special."
As a team, the 18th-ranked Baylor women shot 7-over 295 in the final round and moved up two spots to finish fifth at 36-over 900, 15 shots behind the Longhorns and three behind fourth-place Oklahoma State. Freshman Fiona Liddell shot 2-under 70 and tied for fifth at 4-over 220, joining Kim on the Big 12 All-Tournament team.
"With Dylan and Fiona playing really well today, we had an opportunity to go out there and make a little more noise than we did today," Goble said. "I don't think some of the other players on our team ever got going and comfortable out there. Golf is a hard sport, and it doesn't always reward you when you want."
Kim's first medalist honor and seventh career top-10 finish came in her 21st collegiate tournament.
"It's the time that we all try to peak every year," she said, "and to win conference is just a great feeling. . . . I really played within myself and stuck to my own game, and I'm really proud of the way that I kept grinding and didn't let anything bother me too much. I fought all day, so I'm really proud of that."
Going into Sunday's final round, Kim was tied for third at 2-over 146, three shots behind UT junior Sophia Schubert.
But, before the frontrunners and team leaders even teed off, Kim jumped into the lead by birdieing on four of the first seven holes and never relinquished it.
"She need to go out and just post a big number," Goble said. "I knew if she did that, she was going to have a good chance. And that's exactly what she did. . . . She went out there and literally take care of her business. She wasn't playing with a leader, so she could just go out there and play her game. Again, if she goes out there and plays her game, she's tough to beat."
After shooting 4-under 32 on the front nine - the same score she posted in Friday's opening-round 71 when she double-bogeyed No. 18 - Kim shot even par on the back nine with a bogey on the par-4 13th and a birdie on the next hole.
"I got off to a really quick start, so that was nice," she said. "The back nine always played difficult, so I was really happy with my finish and coming in solid."
With a final-round 68 that tied for the best Big 12 Championship round in program history, Kim joined Lauren Taylor (2013) as the school's only Big 12 individual champions. She also made the Big 12 All-tournament team in 2015, when she tied for fifth.
"To go out today and shoot 68 . . . it's a tough golf course to score on," Goble said. "You have to have experience out there and know where to be under the hole and know where you can score from. I would say she pretty much played a brilliant round of golf to get it around in 68."
Liddell carded four birdies in a round of 2-under 70 that ranked as the third-best in the 45-player field. Junior Amy Lee shot 7-over 79 in the final round and tied for 31st at 15-over 231, with sophomore Maria Vesga and freshman Cheerie Tan tied for 41st (22-over 238).
Vesga, dealing with tendonitis in her left arm, had three double-bogeys in a closing round of 9-over 81 and had just five birdies combined in the three rounds.
"It's unfortunate timing, and I know Maria is trying to do everything she can to get to where it's not as painful," Goble said. "We've got almost two weeks before we leave for regionals, so we'll just try to work with it the best we can."
NCAA regional selections will be announced at 10 a.m. Thursday on the Golf Channel, with 18 teams picked for each of four regional sites - Athens, Ga., Albuquerque, N.M., Columbus, Ohio, and Lubbock, Texas. The top six at each regional site advance to the NCAA Division I Golf Championship May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
THE RUNDOWN
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Dylan Kim won the 2017 Big 12 Championship individual title by shooting 4-under 68 in Sunday's final round at The Dominion Country Club. She recorded the best final round by a Baylor player in Big 12 Championship history and became the second BU golfer to win the Big 12 individual championship.
Kim entered the final round three strokes back of the lead, but she quickly moved into the top spot by making four birdies on her first seven holes, including three straight across the fifth, sixth and seventh holes. She shot even-par the rest of the way with a bogey on No. 13 followed by another birdie on No. 14, and that was enough to claim a three-stroke victory over Texas' Emilee Hoffman.
Baylor recorded a team score of 7-over 295 in the final round, which was the third-best round of the day and helped the Lady Bears climb two spots to finish in fifth place at 36-over 900. BU finished behind No. 19 Texas (+21), No. 49 Iowa State (+28), No. 38 Texas Tech (+30) and No. 17 Oklahoma State (+33). BU claimed head-to-head wins over Kansas (+40), No. 47 Kansas State (+43) and No. 23 Oklahoma (+44).
Freshman Fiona Liddell joined Kim on the Big 12 All-Tournament Team by tying for fifth place at 4-over-par 220. She climbed 12 spots on the leaderboard by shooting 2-under 70 in the final round, which was the third-best round of the day behind Kim's 68 and ISU's Amelia Grohn's 69.
Amy Lee tied for 31st place at 15-over 231 following a final round of 7-over 79. Cheerie Tan and Maria Vesga tied for 41st place at 22-over 238, with Tan shooting 6-over 78 and Vesga carding a 9-over 81 on Sunday.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Dylan Kim joined Lauren Taylor (2013) as the only Big 12 individual champions in program history.
- Kim's final round 68 tied the best Big 12 Championship round in program history (Lauren Taylor, 2nd round in 2013).
- Kim's 68 was the best final round at a Big 12 Championship by a Baylor player, beating the previous best of 70 by Laura Lonardi (2014) and Hayley Davis (2015).
- Kim's 68 was also the best score by any player throughout the three-round tournament.
- Kim's 54-hole total of 214 was third-best by a Baylor player in Big 12 Championship history, trailing only Laura Lonardi's 212 in 2015 and Lauren Taylor's 213 in 2013.
- Kim earned her second Big 12 All-Tournament Team honor. She was on the 2015 All-Tournament team as a freshman before sitting out last season as a medical redshirt.
- Fiona Liddell also earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, giving Baylor 10 Big 12 All-Tournament Team honorees in head coach Jay Goble's six seasons.
- Kim led the 45-player field in par-3 scoring at 3-under 2.75 and ranked third in par-4 scoring at 1-under 3.97.
- Liddell tied for third in par-3 scoring at 1-over 3.08 and tied for fifth in par-4 scoring at 1-over 4.03. She also tied for ninth with nine birdies made.
- Kim's 11 birdies tied for third-most, and her 36 pars tied for sixth-most across 54 holes.
- Baylor ranked fourth in par-3 scoring at 15-over 3.25, fourth in par-4 scoring at 33-over 4.22 and seventh in par-5 scoring at 13-over 5.22.
- BU made the fifth-most birdies (35) and sixth-most pars (159) in the nine-team field.
STAT OF THE DAY
68 -- Dylan Kim's final-round 68 was the best score out of 135 rounds played during the 2017 Big 12 Championship. It tied the best Big 12 Championship round in program history and set a new Baylor record for best Big 12 Championship final round score.
TOP QUOTE I
Dylan Kim on winning the Big 12 Championship individual title ...
"I got off to a really quick start, so that was nice. The back-nine always plays difficult, so I was really happy with my finish coming in solid. It means a lot. It is part of postseason, and it's a time that we all try to peak every year, so to win conference is just a great feeling."
TOP QUOTE II
Head coach Jay Goble on Dylan Kim's performance ...
"We're extremely proud of Dylan. It's been kind of a long road for her comeback, and for her to get back to the point where her game is sharp again and she feels comfortable out there playing has been exciting. It's been fun to watch her continue to improve throughout this year. Her fall semester wasn't exactly what she was looking for, but if you look at how she's played throughout the year she's gotten better and better. She needed to go out and just post a number, and if she did that, I thought she was going to have a good chance. That's exactly what she did. She played a brilliant round of golf to get it around in 68 out there today."
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor returns home to await the announcement of the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship field. The selection show airs at 10 a.m. CT Thursday on Golf Channel, and 18 teams will be sent to each of the four regional sites -- Athens, Ga., Albuquerque, N.M., Columbus, Ohio and Lubbock, Texas. The top six teams at each regional site advance to the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
