Sarah Burnham Named Big Ten Co-Women’s Golfer of the Week

Burnham tied a career low with a 5-under-par 211 to claim a share of medalist honors at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Championship.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sophomore Sarah Burnham, who claimed a share of medalist honors by tying a career low with a 5-under-par 211 at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship in New Orleans, has been named Big Ten Co-Women’s Golfer of the Week.

Burnham shared the award with Wisconsin’s Brooke Ferrell, who also shot a 211 and tied for medalist honors at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Arizona.

Burnham tied for first with LSU's Sydney Cavin, but Cavin was officially awarded the first-place trophy after winning the tiebreaker (lowest back-nine score in final round).

Burnham entered the final round tied for fourth place, three shots off the pace, but carded her third consecutive under-par round with a 70 on Tuesday (Feb. 23) to move atop the leaderboard. She also shot a 70 in the first round on Sunday (Feb. 21) and fired a 71 in the second round on Monday (Feb. 22).

The 17-team Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship, which featured 12 teams in the Golfstat Top 50, was held at the English Turn Golf and Country Club.

The 211 tied a career low for Burnham and also tied for the fourth-lowest 54-hole score in school history; she also shot a 211 in her victory at the Landfall Tradition in late October (Oct. 23-25) in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is the first Spartan to win two tournaments in the same season since Sara Brown won three in 2007-08.

Burnham began her round at hole 10, and carded six straight pars to start the day before collecting a birdie on the par-4 16th. She then tallied six more pars, but bogeyed her only hole of the day at the par-4 fifth. Burnham rallied with birdies on two of her final four holes, including a chip from 25 yards out to birdie her last hole on the par-4, 340-yard ninth. Cavin (69-73-69) won the tiebreaker with her 2-under-par on the back nine, while Burnham shot 1-under on holes 10-18.

The Maple Grove, Minnesota, product is on pace to set an MSU single-season scoring record in 2015-16. Through six tournaments, Burnham owns a team-best 72.00 scoring average (current record is 73.53 held by Caroline Powers in 2010-11), which is tied for 28th lowest in the nation.

This marks the second time Burnham has been recognized by the Big Ten with a weekly honor; she was also named the Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Week following her win at the Landfall Tradition to close the fall portion of the season.

The No. 32 Michigan State women’s golf team returns to action March 21-22 for the Briar's Creek Invitational in Johns Island, South Carolina.