COLUMBUS, GA — Anna Davis delivered a closing statement and Auburn delivered a rout Tuesday at the inaugural Haskins Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Columbus. The Auburn senior carded a bogey-free 66 to win by five shots over Pepperdine's Eunseo Choi for her seventh collegiate victory, while the Tigers finished at 24 under to win the team title by 30 shots over LSU for their first win of the season.
Davis checked the leaderboard behind the 18th green before her approach and saw a four-shot lead, enough to attack the back-left flag on the par-4 18th, the second-hardest hole of the day. With trouble left and long and zero margin for error, she fired from 118 yards to 3 feet and converted the birdie. "I was feeling good about it," Davis said. She had only one bogey over 54 holes on a setup where pins were much more difficult than normal. "It made the course challenging, for sure," Davis said. "You had to take the course shot by shot. It's definitely a different golf course than it played before."
Auburn coach Melissa Luellen praised the composure behind the dominance. "She truly has elevated her game," Luellen said. "Just such a fine level of preparation, dedication, resilience. When you watch her play, it looks like she doesn't have a heartbeat. But inside, she's like a little duck under the water. She just wants to win so badly." Davis, who won the 2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur when she was 16, is the most decorated golfer in Auburn history and starred less than an hour from campus at the home of the Haskins Foundation, which presents the Fred Haskins and Annika Awards.
Auburn separated from the field early and never looked back. Ohio State and Arkansas tied for third at 7 over, with Pepperdine and SMU one shot behind. Molly Davidson tied for fourth at 5 under, Charlotte Cantonis placed T-8 at 4 under and Balma Davalos tied for 10th at 3 under, while Gia Raad, playing as an individual, also tied for fourth at 5 under with Davidson. "We're just building," Luellen said. "We had two tournaments before this one, and we got shellacked. We finished second, but we weren't even close. I thought the quality of play was just really good."