Sugiyama’s Opening-Round 68 Paces Purdue at Landfall

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Another tournament, another round in the 60s for Momo Sugiyama. The sophomore transfer fired a 4-under 68 to lead Purdue Women’s Golf in the opening round of the Landfall Tradition. Facing a large, difficult field, the Boilermakers sit in ninth place with 36 holes remaining.
 
With seven birdies, the most out of 96 golfers playing the par 72 Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall, Sugiyama shot her fourth round in the 60s this season and matched her lowest round as a Boilermaker. At 4-under, the Australian is only two shots off the lead heading into moving day.
 
Purdue recorded an opening-round 292 (+4), matching Tennessee and North Carolina to land in the middle of the 18-team leaderboard despite being one of the last teams on the course and having to wait out a rain delay. The Boilermakers found themselves ahead of No. 11 Duke (+7) as well as Big Ten foes Maryland (+7) and Penn State (+21). Purdue played the par 5s 3-under as a team during the first 18 holes, ranking third in the field.
 
Sugiyama fought off a slow start that saw her 3-over through the first five holes. She did not commit a mistake the rest of the way, tallying seven birdies and six pars over her final 13 holes of the day. Back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh sparked the strong finish. Making the turn at 1-over, Sugiyama got back to level par with a birdie on No. 10 before moving into red figures with consecutive birdies at No. 12 and No. 13. Closing her day, the Hawaii transfer added birdies on each of her final two holes to shoot a 31 (-5) on the back nine and put a bow on another stellar round.
 
Danielle du Toit recorded an under-par round of her own, carding a 71 (-1). Following a bogey to begin her tournament, the veteran Boilermaker played the remaining holes bogey-free and added a pair of birdies along the way. A deuce at the par-3 eighth and a birdie at the short par-4 11th pushed du Toit to 1-under, where she remained after parring each of the last seven holes on the course.
 
Jocelyn Bruch added a 76 (+4) to contribute to Purdue’s team total. The sophomore started out 2-under through five holes and ended up tallying a 35 (-1) on the front side. Making her 2022-23 season debut, Daniela Ballesteros shot 77 (+5) that featured the Lima, Peru native beginning the tournament 1-under after the…